Need A Second To Breathe
by S.E. Mellark
Summary: AU. The Pharaohs of Egypt have been within the Darcia family line for generations, and there has never been a darker time in the Land of the Nile. After a tragedy leaves them homeless, two brothers must fight to survive in the kingdom of their birth alone. But they harbor a secret, one that could land them at the gates of Paradise sooner than they had expected.
1. Prologue

OMG I don't know what the hell I'm doing! Actually, I'm quite sane, but still. I got this idea while trying to fall asleep at 2 in the morning, and I thought the urge to write this would be gone when I woke up . . . but as you can tell, it didn't. This is an AU (obviously) and follows the show loosely. Stuff happens, other stuff happens . . . well, I guess you'll see. Going from "Paradise Reborn" to this is weird and I wish my mind would shut up but alas it did not. So, that being said . . . enjoy the craziness that my sleep deprived mind comes up with!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Wolf's Rain, and I most likely never will.**

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**Prologue**

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The screams of her people were unrivaled by any other.

Standing by the window to her chambers, holding the screaming bundle that was her infant son, it took all Queen Hamona had not to weep for the horrors going on below her. The fires, the blood, the howling. Regular Egyptians ran to and fro among the streets littered with the dead bodies of those whom they had lived beside for so long—the wolves. She did not know what had caused this mass murder, why her husband—the Pharaoh—had ordered his soldiers to wipe out all that remained of what had once been a proud race of loyal servants under their king. Even some of their most trusted members of council had been killed, poisoned in the last meeting simply because they had the power of Khonsu on their side.

Hamona hadn't an inkling of why her beloved Pharaoh had suddenly turned on his own subjects, riding through the streets below on that blasted white steed. Perhaps the Egyptians had believed their Pharaoh was bringing news of his newborn son, but she knew better. Turning away from the window, Hamona walked further into the room, sitting down slowly on the edge of the bed where her tiny son had been born only three days prior.

"Such a terrible time to enter this world, my beloved." She said softly to the infant, running a trembling finger down his smooth, rounded cheek stained with tears. His wails ceased suddenly before picking up again, even louder than the first time. "You hear the screams of your people, don't you?" She asked the tiny prince, a tear of her own slipping down her porcelain face. "I do too."

A knock on the door caught the Queen's attention, and she stood, hugging the child to her more with a heavy heart. "You may enter."

A servant girl was the caller, a little blonde foreigner of fifteen taken during a raid in the neighboring kingdom of Sinai. Cher was her name, and while Egypt wasn't the land of her birth and she staked no claim to the fertile lands of the Nile, she was loyal to the thrown, to the queen in particular. "Oh," Hamona breathed with a sigh of relief, placing a hand over her pounding heart, "it is only you."

"I came to see how you were fairing, Your Majesty." The girl said quietly, sinking to her knees. "You have not been well since the birth of the prince."

"My only ailment is that of exhaustion." Hamona replied, sitting down on the bed once more so she was facing the girl. It was true that she had been a sickly child ever since her birth, and her health hadn't been the best in the years she'd spent married to the Pharaoh. Since the birth of her son, however, she'd been feeling rather fatigued. "My husband worries far too much."

Cher said nothing, only clasped her hands quietly in her lap and stared at the floor. But the queen saw how her pale blue eyes shifted over to the window. "Tell me," Hamona said quietly, "what do you think of what is happening outside the palace walls?"

"It is not my place to say, My Queen."

"It is best to speak when your queen demands it."

The smallest of frowns appeared on the girl's face. "I am saddened by what is happening. The wolves in my village were kind and did more than their fair share of work. I see no justice in this night."

"So, we are on the same line of thinking then."

"My Queen?"

"My husband is a kind man, or rather he used to be." Hamona stated, rocking the child slowly in her arms as his furious screams started to die away. "I love him, truly I do, but I have reached an impasse with myself."

Cher looked up, the jewels on her headdress swinging furiously at the swift motion. She was the Queen's head servant even at such a young age, for she was efficient and a smart thinker. She wore the finest robes the palace tailors could create that were a step below the monarchs of the palace. "My Queen—"

"Hamona. It is the name my parents bestowed upon me. You have my permission to use it."

"Hamona," Cher said slowly, unsure, "what are you trying to say?"

"My husband believes he is freeing Egypt from the scourge that is the wolves, but I'm certain you know that is not the truth. The wolves protect this land from the demons of the underworld. They bring no harm to our great society, but I cannot make the Pharaoh see reason."

Hamona got to her feet, staring lovingly at the drowsy infant in her arms. The peaceful babe was sleeping soundly in the midst of the carnage outside, practically ignoring the furious howls of those fighting for life. "The Pharaoh himself is descended from wolves, Cher. He and his ancestors have turned their backs on the gods and renounced their title as the Wolves of Egypt."

"My Lady!" Cher gasped, bringing her hands to her mouth, eyes blown wide. "Say it isn't so!"

Hamona shook her head sadly. "It is the truth, young one. No one knows of it but I and the High Priest, but thus far we have not said a word to any soul. Even now, I am a loyal consort and will not betray my husband."

"If the Pharaoh is a wolf himself, then why is he—" The servant girl trailed off, turning to look at the window once more as a chorus of angry snarls filled the night air.

"My husband believes wolves are like a plague to the nation. He himself has not been in Khonsu's graces since he was a child. I fear that once he has killed every wolf in Egypt, he will move on to the other kingdoms."

"Can you not do anything to stop him?"

The Queen shook her head. "I have tried, but he will not see reason. And that is why I fear for the safety of my son."

Cher looked at the sleeping bundle in the woman's arms. She was almost as familiar with the boy as his own mother, for she had been his caretaker when the Queen was too ill to leave her chambers. Even now, the monarch looked frail and exhausted among her extravagant robes and jewels, clutching the babe tightly to her chest. "Even Pharaoh Darcia wouldn't harm his own son." The girl said firmly, though Hamona saw the doubt in her gaze. "He is his heir, the next in line for the throne."

"But he is a wolf." Hamona said. "The High Priest said so himself in the Pharaoh's presence. The look I saw in my husband's eyes was not a good one, and I am afraid he may try to take this little one's life."

"Then who would assume the throne once he passes?"

"My husband has a plan." Hamona said tiredly, moving closer to the girl. "He will take the child to the High Priest once the sun rises on this dreadful night. They are going to take away the part of my son that was bestowed upon him by the gods."

"You cannot take away someone's ability to turn into Khonsu's messengers . . . can you?"

"They will try, and if it fails, they will slay him."

"No!" The girl cried helplessly. "Hamona, you must do something! I do not wish to see the Young Lord laid to rest on the Nile in my lifetime."

"And you won't." The woman said firmly. "I have decided to send the prince away."

She saw the shock present in Cher's eyes. "Away? Where would he go?"

"To the house of Kamiah. She was a priestess to the previous Pharaoh, though she now lives in the eastern village of the kingdom. The village in which she resides is free of wolves, so my husband would never think to go there. She has a daughter who just lost a baby, so she and her husband are going to take him in. They are to take him out of Egypt when he is old enough to survive such a journey."

"Does she know of this plan?"

"Yes, I sent a message to her yesterday. I had not expected the attack to commence tonight, so she will be receiving my son earlier than expected."

"Are you sure about this, Hamona?" Cher asked worriedly, rising from her bowed position. "What will you tell the Pharaoh? What if we never see the Young Lord again?"

Hamona smiled reassuringly, placing a comforting hand upon the girl's bare shoulder. "Fret not, my dear. I will tell my husband the child was smothered against my breast while I was asleep. My grief at losing the child should convince him as such."

Cher's eyes were blown wide. "My Lady—"

"I cannot sit idly by and allow my son to be shamed or murdered, Cher. My mind is made up, and my son will be dead to the kingdom before the moon sets in the night sky."

"I cannot and will not try to change your mind, Hamona." Cher said quietly, bowing her head. "I do not wish to see the Young Lord perish either. I only wish it hadn't come to this."

"I am young and will bear more sons before the gods claim my soul. I know I cannot send each one away, but this is my first-born, and I want him to have the best possible future. Sadly, he cannot have it here at my side." Hamona sighed, stroking her infant son's face. His dark eyelashes fluttered at the touch, his small, gummy mouth opening in a small yawn. The child had only been in the world for such a short time, but she already loved him greatly, and it was that love that was forcing her to send him away, out of his father's clutches. Tears spiked her eyes at the thought that she was protecting her son from her own husband. How had things come to this? "Cher, I wish for you to take my son to the house of Kamiah. I trust no other with this task."

The servant girl started as her queen placed the baby in her arms, placing a soft kiss to his forehead. "Me? My Lady, surely you want one of the more experienced servants to take the Young Lord. I am only on my fifteenth harvest."

"Youthfulness does not symbol incompetence, my dear." Hamona said softly. "I know you will not betray me."

Cher looked like she was going to protest more, but then she looked down at the baby in her arms. Hamona knew the young girl would protect her son at the cost of her own life, but she knew it wouldn't come to that. The soldiers were attacking the western part of the city this night, and the east was bare and vacant, the Egyptians trembling in their homes as they listened to the caterwauls of their brethren, human and wolf alike. A look of determination appeared on the girl's face, and she looked up at her queen, nodding. "I will not fail you, My Lady."

"It's Hamona." The monarch said with a small laugh. "I will forever be in your debt, Cher. I will not forget this night, of that I swear."

Cher nodded, tightening her hold on the infant before turning to exit the room. She paused by the door, however. "Hamona, have you thought of a name for the Young Lord? Should something go array I do not wish for him to visit the gods without a name."

The woman said nothing for a moment, turning to the window once more. The smoke was steadily rising over the kingdom, the darkness of the night broken by fires set by her husband's men. It wasn't just the wolves that would lose their lives tonight, of that she was certain. The innocent would suffer greatly, losing family, their homes, their very lives even. Her own son was an innocent being in this mess, and she was suffering enough for the both of them.

"Kiba." She said faintly. "Tell Kamiah that my son is to be called Kiba."

"Yes, My Lady." The girl said, and then she was gone, closing the door behind her with a resounding thud.

The Queen of Egypt stood alone by the window to her shared chamber with her husband for some time after Cher left with her son, shedding the tears not only for her aching heart, but for the pain of her people. Her husband was not a bad man. His father, and his father's father before him had just led him astray in the ways of the Pharaoh, and all of Egypt was paying the price.

_Be strong and live, my son. _She thought to herself as she turned away from the window once more, placing a hand on her forehead. She felt faint. _I hope that one day this will all be a thing of the past and you can return to the palace where you belong. _

But hope was fleeting, and Hamona didn't dare allow herself to dream that one day her husband would return to the way he'd been during their courtship, when she felt comforted by his gaze alone. She didn't recognize that man when he looked at her anymore, couldn't understand the anger in his eyes.

She laid down on the bed gingerly, closing her eyes in an attempt to block out the sounds of death from outside the palace walls. A resounding howl sounded in the distance before it was abruptly cut off, one so weak and small she knew it must have been a child's. Sending Kiba away, she supposed, was the wisest thing she had ever done.

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_Author's Note: _So . . . you like? I don't know, I liked it, so I thought I'd pursue it just to see what would come of it. At the end of each chapter, if I make a reference to a term or a god that some of you might not know, I'll tell you. Like—

Khonsu—the ancient Egyptian moon-god

See? I like ancient Egypt. It's interesting. Let's see where this story takes us, shall we?


	2. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: _Please excuse any errors I might make in this story. I may know some stuff about Egypt because I excessively stalk its Wikipedia page and other books I may posses, and I'll try to make everything as accurate as I can. Any who, I'm going to try and differentiate the way the characters in this story speak. Royalty will probably be more sophisticated while commoners aren't as classy. On with the story!

_Ra—_ancient Egyptian sun god, and the major deity of their religious customs

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**Chapter 1**

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Kiba always woke up early the morning before a full moon, and today was no exception.

The early morning sun was just beginning to peak through the curtains on the window, so it wasn't exactly the rays of light that disturbed his peaceful slumber, but a primal urge to get down to the Nile as quickly as possible. The fifteen-year-old lay still for a few moments in the bed, tightening his grip around his younger brother a little when the boy started to shift. There was no way Kiba was allowing Toboe to wake up this early, not when they had a long night ahead of them. After checking to make sure the twelve-year-old was still breathing, Kiba slowly removed his right arm from around Toboe's waist, stifling a yawn as he removed himself from the bed. Toboe simply rolled over onto his back in his absence, splaying out over the entire surface with a giant sigh.

Kiba stifled a chuckle, raising his arms over his head in a long, luxurious stretch. He tilted his head up slightly, sniffing the air and listening for any other signs of life within the house. There was a faint noise coming from downstairs, in the kitchen maybe, and the spices he detected told him that his grandmother was either cooking breakfast or working on medicines and incense. He looked back to his sleeping brother once more before exiting the chamber, brushing past the curtain that served as a door to the room.

"Well, look who decided to join the living." Kiba smiled faintly as the voice of his grandmother pierced the silence of the air. There was such warmth in her tone that he felt safe every time he heard her voice. The elderly woman had been their primary caretaker ever since their parents had been killed in a raid from the neighboring country of Sinai seven years ago. She and Kiba had been away from the home at the time, helping a woman who had gone into labor due to the stress of the invasion, and Kiba still remembered how terrified he'd been when they returned home to his parents' dead bodies and no Toboe. He'd feared that his baby brother had been captured, or perhaps even murdered just like their parents, but they'd found him curled up in a ball under the bed, covered in blood that wasn't his own. Kiba had been fretting over the boy ever since, much to Toboe's displeasure, but he didn't know what he'd do if anything ever happened to his brother.

"Good morning, Grandmother." The boy said as he walked down the stone steps slowly, running a callused hand through his sleep-mused hair.

"We need to get you a haircut." The woman chuckled as she watched him move across the room, coming to stand above the wooden table where she was working. Kiba and his grandmother—and sometimes Toboe if he could sit still long enough—made herbs and medicines used by the majority of the people in their village. It was the only source of money they had unless Kiba managed to find work somewhere else, which usually fell along the lines of hard physical labor. Not that the boy minded any. He enjoyed being outdoors among the company of his fellow Egyptians. Or used to, he supposed. These were trying times under the rule of Pharaoh Darcia III, and the land wasn't as prosperous as it had once been. Everyone seemed to be looking out for themselves, though his grandmother just said trust was a fickle thing to come by nowadays ever since the Pharaoh ordered the slaughter of the wolves.

Kiba sat down at the table, tilting his head down slightly to look at her through the fringes of his hair. "Really? I didn't notice how long it had gotten."

She laughed heartily, tearing apart a few leaves before dropping them into the small mixing bowl before her. Kiba folded his arms together on the table and rested his chin atop them, watching her mix the poultice with a keen eye. His grandmother had been teaching him about medicines since he was old enough to toddle. He suspected she wanted him to take over for her someday as the village healer, and he didn't have any issue with it. He enjoyed helping people, liked seeing the relief on his neighbors' faces when he and Toboe went to deliver a specific tonic they desperately needed.

The alternative was joining the militia, and Kiba wasn't willing to do that any time soon. Fighting for his country wasn't something he was afraid of doing; he would gladly attack those that had killed his parents if it was deemed necessary, but he hated violence of all kinds, especially the unprovoked acts. He couldn't go gallivanting across the desert to foreign lands when Toboe needed him. It was his worst fear, really, that he would be called to join the militia when he turned sixteen and be forced to leave the only remaining members of his family that he had left. What would happen to them if he didn't return?

"Did you sleep well?"

Kiba started, pulled from his thoughts by the sound of his grandmother's voice. "As well as I can with the Human Grasshopper in my bed."

The elderly healer shook her head humorously, beginning the process of mashing the poultice together. "That boy has enough energy to pull an entire grain cart across the desert." The boy frowned, not liking the idea, and she laughed. "He's lucky to have such an attentive older brother like you around, Kiba."

"True." Kiba replied, a slow, lazy grin appearing on his face. "Whatever would he do without me?"

"Ra only knows." The woman said off-handedly, looking up at him with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Kiba, could you go grab the bucket? I need to moisten these leaves."

Kiba nodded, getting up from his seat and moving over towards the door, picking up the metal bucket on the floor. "You're getting rather muscular, dear." His grandmother said, a certain glint in her eyes that Kiba thought no elderly woman should posses. "No wonder the village girls are hanging around like harlots."

"They're not harlots," Kiba said firmly, hefting the bucket up on the table with a resounding thud, "and they're not looking for me, of that I'm certain."

"Sure, sure." She said dipping a new set of leaves into the fresh water quickly, tearing them apart as well and adding them to the bowl. "But you are rather handsome, Kiba. Responsible too. I'm sure a lot of woman want you in their beds."

"Grandmother, please." Kiba said with a tone of finality, sitting down at the table once more. "Can we not have this conversation before the sun peaks?"

"So, you want to talk about this after?"

"_Grandmother._"

The woman laughed, and Kiba shook his head slowly. She may have been old, but his mother's mother was far from the meek and feeble woman she should have been. Her bones may have dulled with age, but her mind was still as sharp as ever, which meant Kiba had to keep an eye on her as well as twelve-year-old Toboe.

"You guys talk really loud."

"Says he who snores like a hippo." Kiba retorted as Toboe made an appearance despite his precautions.

His brother grinned sheepishly, brown eyes shining in a manner that told Kiba today was going to be a very long day. "Well, hello, Toboe." Their grandmother greeted him warmly, just as she had done to Kiba.

"Morning, Granny." Toboe said brightly, plopping down on the bench beside his brother. "Did you sleep well?"

"That I did." Their grandmother replied, and Kiba cast a sideways glance at his brother, taking in the cheerful expression on his face. Sometimes the innocence that his little brother exhibited left him exhausted and weary, and at times, even jealous. Kiba had never been like that, or at least not that he could remember. He blamed it on the fact that he couldn't be what he really was in his own home. A flash of anger overcame him as he thought about the Pharaoh, the man who'd made it high treason to even speak about the Messengers of Khonsu. It was because of that man that he and Toboe had to sneak off every night on the full moon, off to the Nile for a few precious hours to spend as wolves. He believed the gods were displeased with the way wolves had been massacred, and the hardships Egypt had faced were the effects of that anger. It was a time to be free as well as pay homage to the gods when the night circle was at its fullest, and he and Toboe hadn't missed a night in all the years since their parents had been taken from them. "I woke up and thought I'd restock our supplies. Now, how about you? It's rare to see you up at this hour, Toboe."

"The bed got cold without Kiba." Toboe explained, raising a hand to his face to muffle a yawn before leaning down to rest his forehead on his folded arms, heaving a sigh. "And I had a night vision. I've been awake for hours."

Kiba exchanged a glance with his grandmother, putting a comforting hand on Toboe's back. It meant all the difference that he had called it a night vision, and not a nightmare. Even though Toboe held an air of innocence that Kiba would never posses, he had a burden to bear that his older brother would probably never understand.

They had known since Toboe was a small child that he had been given a gift by the gods. He received visions, predictions of the future. Their father had called him a Seer, an oracle that their family had been graced with. Back when they were younger, Kiba and Toboe had thought his gift to be a wondrous thing, something that their underdeveloped minds couldn't even begin to comprehend. But as time went on, the visions became more sinister, assaulting Toboe out of nowhere with pictures and sounds that the twelve-year-old didn't understand. Kiba had often been woken out of his sleep by Toboe's cries in the night, but the comfort he offered could only stretch so far when he didn't understand fully whatever it was that Toboe had seen. Their father had been the interpreter of such visions, and Kiba was in no way trained to do the same. It was mainly why Kiba checked to make sure Toboe was breathing every morning, because sometimes, if a Vision was intense enough, the boy would cease all signs of life for a few tense, terrifying moments.

"What did you see?" Kiba asked quietly, rubbing small circles into his brother's back.

"The same thing I see every time I have a Vision in the night." Toboe replied tiredly, turning his head to the side to peer up at his older brother through narrowed brown eyes. "The oasis and the moon. But this time there was a girl."

"A girl?" Kiba echoed, blue eyes narrowing in thought. "What did she look like?"

Toboe blinked, staring at the wall on the opposite side of the house as he tried to recall his latest Vision. "She was unlike anything I've ever seen before. She had skin so pale I could almost see through her, and her eyes were as red as blood. Her hair was the color of the flowers that grow by the Nile after the harvest."

"Pink hair, you say?" Their grandmother said as Kiba tried and failed to make sense of what his brother had said. "How unusual."

Kiba nodded, not saying a word. He might not have known what Toboe's Visions meant, but he was certain that nothing good was to come of it. His brother had predicted the last famine and the death of the village Elder a few seasons ago. No one had known about that, though, because Kiba was adamant they keep Toboe's gift a secret. A Seer was a possession worth more than any gold or jewels among all the kingdoms, and he would fight even the bastard of a Pharaoh himself before he allowed his brother to be taken from him. His grandmother had done all she could to keep the village elder from dying, and tried to convince all the villagers to save whatever food they could without saying how she knew such tragedies were going to occur. Toboe always felt guilty when something terrible happened that he either hadn't seen or hadn't been able to prevent with all the secrecy, but Kiba knew that his fear of being taken to the Pharaoh's palace was even greater.

"Riddle me this, Toboe." Their grandmother said suddenly, capturing the boy's attention in an attempt to distract him from the melancholy that came with announcements such as his newest Vision. "What do you use to quell the symptoms of shortness of breath?"

Toboe lifted his head, and Kiba set to work on fixing his mane of wild auburn locks. "Umm, a garlic and onion tonic?"

"Very good. Now, Kiba. How do you mummify a body for burial?"

"Insert a long hooked implement through a nostril, break the bone of the skull and remove the brain." Kiba replied without missing a single beat. "Extract the rest of the organs except the heart, and use salts and resin so skin remains intact. Fill the body with cloth and then wrap it in linen bandages."

Toboe snorted, reaching up to swat away Kiba's hand. "Well, at least you know what to do with my body should I decide to pay the gods a visit."

"Hush." Kiba said shortly, glancing over at his grandmother. Why was there the faintest of smiles upon her face? "Why are we receiving lessons in treating shortness of breath and mummification?"

"Just keeping your minds sharp, boys. Now, how do you avoid broken bones?"

"Stay away from hippos." The two replied in unison.

"You are your mother's sons." The elder woman chuckled, and Toboe beamed, looking up at Kiba who gave him a more reserved smile in return. "Remember that tonight when you go to the Nile. I don't want to see a single scratch upon your return."

"But what if Kiba tries to be dominate again?"

Kiba huffed in indignation, pushing Toboe's shoulder while the younger boy broke out into a fit of unreserved laughter. The boy's mind was almost as perverse as their grandmother's. "Kiba only bit you that one time because he has natural instincts to lead." The woman explained patiently. "Some of Khonsu's Messengers are born with such tendencies. Kiba's instincts took over, and when you got too boisterous he put you in your place."

"So, he's like the Pharaoh, and I'm the High Priest?" Toboe asked while sporting a cheeky grin.

"It's not quite like that, Toboe." Kiba said tersely. "What, you think I'm some tyrannical overlord that abuses his power and his subjects?"

Toboe looked over at him, looking confused and hurt. "That's not—"

"Enough." The healer said shortly, looking up from her mixture. "Kiba, that's not what your brother was saying."

Kiba clenched his jaw, looking away. "I know. Forgive me for snapping."

"I'm curious now, however." Their grandmother said. "What would you do if you were Pharaoh, Kiba?"

"Why?"

"Call it an elder's curiosity."

"Well, I'd make sure my subjects were healthy and not suffering from starvation before I gorged myself with the finest foods in the land. And I most certainly wouldn't kill large masses of Egyptians just because I'm afraid of their power and abilities to please the gods."

"Well, surely it must be hard to take care of thousands upon thousands of Egyptians on a daily basis, Kiba. A king's duty to his people is important, but so is the well-being of their kin. Remember that the Queen has been sick for quite some time, and he has a feisty daughter to watch over. The Pharaoh must have a lot on his mind."

Kiba let his thoughts wander to the Queen. He'd only seen her once in all the time he'd spent in Egypt, and he had to admit that she was a spectacle. He'd often heard of how she used to make rounds in all the villages closest to the palace and actually inquire about her people's needs. She had been a true monarch if he ever saw one, but a sickness had left her practically bedridden, or at least she could never leave the palace. He couldn't help but wonder what would happen to Egypt if she were to get better and take over completely.

"That's still no excuse, Granny." Toboe said, interrupting Kiba's musings. "Pharaoh Darcia murdered all the wolves! Kiba and I could be the only ones left in all of Egypt. And he's mean!"

Their grandmother chuckled. "I'm not sitting here and making excuses for the Pharaoh, for he is truly a corrupt man. He does have a lot on his shoulders, however. That kind of power can drive even the most noble of men mad."

A shiver went up Kiba's spine at her words for reasons unbeknownst to him. He hoped he would never meet the Pharaoh in the flesh if he was truly a man that the gods had abandoned. "Now," she continued briskly, clapping her hands together, "you two must be hungry. Is there anything you want?"

"Can I just have a celery stalk?" Kiba said with a slight sigh. "My head is beginning to throb."

"A celery stalk? Oh, dear, that is horrible for your diet! What respectable wolf eats _celery_?"

"Apparently not Pharaoh Kiba, Granny. He makes his own laws."

* * *

"Oni, have you seen the princess?"

"The princess? Cher, she's your responsibility, not mine. I'm beginning to wonder why the Queen appointed you as the Young Mistresses' governess. This must be the fifth time you've lost track of her this month."

Making the servants panic, Blue supposed, was the high point of her day.

Cher was almost a second mother to her since she'd taken care of her when her own mother was too ill to leave her chambers, but the woman was almost too enthusiastic about her job, and such cheer gave the princess headaches, so sometimes she had to get away.

She suppressed a giggle as she watched her governess question the other servants about her whereabouts from behind a stone pillar in the Grand Hall, just waiting for the opportune moment to make her escape. She was supposed to be in the library working on her studies, but seeing as tonight was the night of the full moon, Blue had abandoned her scrolls in search of a more entertaining way to spend the remainder of her day. Ra was already midway across the sky. Time was fickle this day.

"Her Highness will be so disappointed if I cannot find the Young Mistress." Blue almost felt sorry for the poor woman when she heard the distress in her voice, but pushed it away quickly. Her mother the Queen wasn't one to strike out at servants in her anger, unlike her father the Pharaoh. These days, her mother hardly left her bed. "She wished to have afternoon refreshments with her daughter."

"Damn." Blue hissed under her breath, blowing a stray lock of midnight black hair away from her face. If she wore her headdress it wouldn't be much of an issue, but she despised the blasted thing. Maybe it would have been best if she'd let Cher do her hair this morning instead of refusing all help.

With her mother's health in such dire regard, she never saw her much for fear of infections. If she had her way, she would never leave her mother's side, but guards and servants—and her father—kept her from spending as much time as she wanted with the woman. If her mother was specifically requesting her presence, then there must have been something she wanted to discuss.

The Princess of Egypt waited until Cher and the male servant left to look for her out in the gardens before escaping from her hiding place and flying down the corridor in a flurry of black hair and purple robes. She passed the Throne Room on her way, but she knew her father would be absent without even having to look inside. The Pharaoh often took to spending his days in the library with the High Priest or in meetings with the Council, discussing Ra knows what. Blue didn't particularly care for such political matters, but knew she would have to learn how to handle such responsibilities soon. Being the only child of the Pharaoh and the Queen meant she was to assume the throne should anything happen to them. Blue often fretted over such musings, because Egypt hadn't had a female ruler in decades, and she truly had no desire to deal with the matters of her subjects, even if her mother would reprimand her for saying such things.

Too caught in her musings and her desire to get to her mother's chambers as quickly as possible, the girl didn't even notice when a figure stepped out into her path, and she crashed right into it with a startled cry. "Watch where you are going in the presence of your princess." She snapped irritably before she could register just whom she'd run into.

"A thousand pardons, _Your Highness._ I was not expecting your presence in this corridor. Should you not be studying with your governess?"

"I suppose I should be, Tsume." She said tersely, unwilling to apologize for her rudeness in the wake of the blasted man's infuriating smirk. Tsume was the sixteen-year-old son of a palace slave and one of her father's guards, and his hair was so pale it could almost be considered white, an unusual feat among the Egyptian people. Though his parentage wasn't that of someone who should serve in the Pharaoh's personal group of guards, he was training to do just that, and even though the golden-eyed boy was infuriating in almost every way possible, she considered him her closest friend and trustworthy prank partner. While training to serve under the Pharaoh, it was his duty to make sure she was safe from assassination attempts, though Tsume gave her the slip more often than not, not the other way around. He was good at his job, she supposed, if he could sneak up on her when she least expected it. "My mother has requested my presence."

"Well," the older boy drawled, "aren't you special?"

"You know, when I become the Empress, I'm going to send you to eternity in the dungeons." She huffed, brushing past her guard smoothly only to find that he was now taking his job as her silent shadow very seriously.

"But then who would make sure no attempts are made on your life?" He inquired, falling into step beside her, unsightly of a lowly palace guard-in-training. He should walk behind her just as the other guards and servants did, but that was what she liked about the boy the most. He treated her like an equal, and not like the daughter of royalty. It could get annoying, but she appreciated it. Not that she would ever tell him.

"I can handle myself just fine." She retorted, picking up the bottom of her silk robe slightly so she could ascend the stone steps leading up to her mother's chamber quickly. "You shan't worry yourself over me when you refuse to respect royalty. Your future will be dark if you are in my bad graces."

"My future would disappear at the end of your father's blade should I ever allow something to befall his precious daughter."

"Silence." She said, waving a hand in his face when they reached the door to her mother's room. "Wait out here if you must. Make sure no one disturbs us."

"Yes, Young Mistress." Tsume said seriously, falling to one knee. "I shall do my very best."

Rolling her eyes, the girl pushed open the door to her mother's room before slamming it in her friend's face before he could see her amused smile. Turning around, she assessed her mother critically. She didn't look any less sick than the last time she'd seen her, but she didn't look better either. Her cheeks were almost hollow, unbefitting of a royal monarch who had the finest wines and foods at her disposal. Her pale green hair, which had one been so fine, was laying limply against her face. Blue swallowed thickly before forcing a smile, moving further into the room. "I apologize for being late, Mother." She said, sitting down on the edge of her mother's bed gently. "Tsume and I were out in the gardens."

"It is no trouble at all, Isis. I am simply delighted you came at all."

"Everyone around the palace calls me Blue, Mother." The girl said gently, taking the other woman's hand. "You may as well if you wish it. Do not take offense, but I do like it more."

"Blue for your beautiful eyes, I presume?" The sickly queen said with a soft smile, reaching up with her other hand to cup her daughter's cheek. "Fine, if that is what you wish. I will call you Blue."

"How are you fairing?" Blue asked earnestly, trying to ignore how clammy her mother's hand was. "You seem to be getting better."

The Queen smiled, the look in her violet eyes almost sad. "I do feel rather well this day."

"Ra is smiling down upon you. Khonsu as well. Tonight is the night of the full moon, you know."

"I remember. You're always fidgety on the night when the moon is in full circle."

"Blame my curse." The girl said, the eyes from which her name was born narrowing. "Oh, how I wish you would allow Father to purify me. I cannot concentrate on anything when the beast within me stirs."

The Queen said nothing for a moment, letting her hand fall back onto the clean sheets upon her bed. "You grow more resilient with each passing harvest, my dear. Your father has come to me in hopes of wedding you off before too long."

"No!" Blue said, probably too forcefully. "I do not wish to be married off at thirteen. I want to remain in Egypt for as long as I am able. I am to assume the throne when I am old enough, am I not?"

"Calm yourself, my daughter, I know you do not wish it. I told the Pharaoh as such when he spoke with me. He is not pleased, however."

"I knew he wouldn't be." Blue said, crestfallen. "I cannot do anything to please him, Mother."

"Hush, now." The woman said gently. "That is not the truth. Your father loves you. You're his only joy in life."

"What of you? Father loves you more than the gods themselves."

Something unreadable passed through her mother's eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. "Perhaps."

"Perhaps? Mother—"

"I did not call you to my chamber to argue about my relationship with the Pharaoh, dear." Blue snapped her mouth shut at the sound of her mother's weary voice. She often fretted about forcing her worries and frustrations out on the woman for fear that she would only make her sickness worse. Perhaps coming up here as quickly as she was able wasn't such a good idea. "I wished to speak with you."

"What is it?"

"I think tonight would be as good a time as any for you to become a Messenger of Khonsu. Keeping it locked away is not good for you, dear."

Blue's jaw tightened. "No."

"Blue—"

"I refuse, Mother. Have you not heard about those beasts? They steal babies straight from their mother's breast and swallow them whole! They are messengers of demons, not the gods. It is why Father destroyed them like the plague that they were. It is why I wish to be purified, Mother. Why will you not allow it?"

"Blue." Her mother said, her voice surprisingly icy, reminding Blue of the strong monarch her mother had once been. "The wolves were not a plague, nor are they messengers of demons. And you do not know what it means to be purified. You are not aware of what it entails."

"How would I?" Blue challenged, all of her pretenses to keep her mother as lax as possible leaving her mind in her frustration. "You will not even allow me to witness such an act. What is so great about these beasts? I feel it festering within me on days such as these, Mother, and it frightens me. I wish to be rid of it!"

"I will not allow the High Priest to purify you."

"Why ever not?"

The door to the room opened just then, revealing a disgruntled Cher as she realized where her charge had been hiding all this time. For a split second, Blue felt a flash of irritation towards Tsume, who had failed to complete a direct order. "There you are, Young Mistress. What have I told you about—"

Blue stood from the bed, backing away from her mother. "I never wanted this curse!" She shouted, strands of her loose hair falling into her face once more, though she made no move to blow it away. "You should have left me to the buzzards in the desert!"

"Isis!"

Blue turned and fled from the room, pushing past her governess and slamming the door behind her, red-faced in her fury and shame, for she had never yelled at her mother before. Tsume was leaning against the wall opposite her, and he looked up as she appeared, a startled look on his face. "What's wrong?"

The princess floundered with her words, worrying at the cloth covering her stomach. "I—I yelled at the Queen." She said wretchedly. "I'm afraid I have upset her greatly."

Tsume's golden eyes filled with understanding, for he knew how Blue felt about what she was and how her mother saw her wishes to be purified. On the night of the full moon it was no wonder the Queen had requested her daughter's presence. He released a sigh as the princess blinked tears out of her eyes, pushing himself away from the wall to grab her hand. "Come with me. I think some honey-water would do well to qualm your worries for now. Tonight will be a long night for you."

"It wouldn't be if she would just let the High Priest bless me." She whispered fiercely, wiping away an angry tear with the heel of her palm. "I don't understand her at all. Why would anyone _want _to be a wolf?"

And for a change, Tsume had no rebuttal.


	3. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: _I'm not going to change the last names of certain people in the story. Just thought I'd share that with you. Thank you to everyone who reviewed this story! It makes me uber happy!

**Warnings: **I think people in every era murdered other people.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Toboe began to grow restless after nightfall.

Kiba watched from where he sat on the steps leading up to their bed chamber, watching as his younger brother walked back and forth in front of the window, pulling back the curtain every now and then to restlessly watch the guards make their rounds. It was the same every night. The palace guards would come down to their small village and made sure no one was wandering around past their designated bedtimes, which made it all the harder to sneak away, but they always made do. The Pharaoh had only made the law about being in your homes at a certain hour four years ago, and Kiba wasn't sure what had prompted the change.

Their grandmother was in the small kitchen area, kneading bread that would bake for the few hours that they were gone. It was almost tradition by now that the elderly woman make them loaves of bread for when they returned from their night by the Nile. Kiba would need to take them off the stove once they returned, then he and Toboe would feast before going to bed for the night.

"Toboe, they'll see you if you keep doing that." Kiba said after a moment, tossing a rounded stone back and forth between his hands slowly. "I won't be held responsible for my actions should they decide to beat you into submission."

It had happened to others in the village in the past, though he knew they were safe since no one ever gave the two brothers a second thought when it came to breaking the pharaoh's laws. To their neighbors, they followed every command and hated to cause trouble. If only they knew what happened come nightfall.

Toboe glanced over at him, pausing in his pacing. "Would they really do that to me?"

The dark-haired boy shrugged, giving his brother a mischievous smirk. "I know I would."

"You're so very funny." The younger male said dryly, though he heeded his brother's warning and moved away from the door, sitting down beside him in the steps. "You should become a court jester."

"Like I'd ever go work at the palace."

"Hush, you two." Their grandmother said suddenly, pausing in her work and looking towards the door as the sound of voices became much more apparent. "Off to your room, the guards are coming."

Kiba stood, tugging Toboe up with him, and the two quickly made their exit to wait for their grandmother to announce that it was safe to leave the home. "Are you excited?"

"I wouldn't say excited." Kiba replied quietly, listening as the door opened and their grandmother assured the guards that everyone who resided in the home was present and preparing for bed. "This entire thing seems rather dull after doing it for so long. I am glad we get to spend the majority of tonight as wolves, however."

"Well, _I'm _excited." Toboe declared, grinning sheepishly when Kiba threw him a look for being too loud. "Sorry. Tonight just seems . . . I don't know, different somehow. It feels like an entire harvest has passed since we last went out."

Kiba nodded, for he knew what his brother was talking about. It seemed to be growing harder and harder with each passing day to remain human. Their grandmother said they were simply growing older, and certain instincts wolves possessed were starting to awaken within them. Kiba hadn't an inkling of what she was talking about, yet he wasn't too concerned. As terrible and confined as it was, life went on. Nothing was going to change any time soon, so the urges within them were going to have to be contained. It was just the way things were.

When the guards had gone, they pushed aside the curtain and descended the stairs once more. "Well, boys," their grandmother said, "the best of luck to you. Have fun, and don't forget to be careful."

"We will." Toboe replied sincerely, gladly diving into the older woman's arms when she opened them to offer a hug.

Kiba watched, only slightly confused. She never hugged them when they left for the Nile. The woman noticed her eldest grandson's stare and rolled her eyes, holding out one of her arms for him while the other kept a firm grip on Toboe. "Don't tell me you've grown too old for hugs, dear."

He shook his head, joining in on the display of affection after only a moment's hesitation. "He enjoys them, Granny." Toboe snickered. "He's just too embarrassed to say so."

Kiba pulled away with a huff, allowing his grandmother to kiss his cheek and waiting for Toboe to receive the same treatment before heading for the door. All was quiet when they stepped outside, and Kiba glanced around to make sure no one was around before waving to his grandmother and shutting the door.

Over the years, the two boys had grown used to sneaking around and staying within the shadows, even when the sun was up. The paths they took were the same ones they'd taken every full moon for the past five years. They knew every shadow, every turn they had to take, where the guards would be, and how exactly to avoid being spotted. As soon as they were past the main gate—the guards didn't show up to stake it out until the moon was halfway across the sky—the two took off down the path towards the river. The road may have been worn down from years and years of use from almost every Egyptian in the village, yet it didn't make the journey any quicker. Kiba could faintly smell the river, yet it was still a ways away. He had never been bothered though, and he and Toboe tended to take their time when walking to the Nile.

When they finally reached the greenery that marked the beginnings of the Nile Valley, Toboe released an almost inaudible sigh of relief, which earned him a knowing smile from Kiba. They'd had the discussion more than once that they loved being outside the village more than being within the confining walls. It was a feeling that came with being a wolf, Kiba supposed, and while it made life in the village somewhat intolerable, they'd learned to live with it.

"It's warm out tonight."

"It's always warm, Toboe."

Brown eyes slid over to Kiba slowly, a look of completely exasperation present within them. "Warmer than usual." Toboe amended his previous statement, reaching out to let the leaves on the stalks of greenery brush against his fingertips. "Something seems different but I can't fathom why."

Kiba glanced up at the sky, contemplating. "Perhaps a monsoon is approaching? You always get skittish when one is about to happen."

"It's not that, nor is it the season for such rains. Have you lost your wits, brother?"

"You're the one that's commenting on how _warm _it is."

Toboe opened his mouth to make a retort, but obviously thought better of it. He only laughed instead, eyes lighting up considerably when the sound of water became much more apparent. There were water bugs flying around on the surface of the Nile, ripples appearing when the resident fish tried to claim one before it flew away. Kiba could hear the croaks of the frogs further down the bank, upstream in the direction of the Pharaoh's palace.

The two could see the palace from where they stood on the bank of the Nile, though it was by no means close, and while Toboe was simply enthusiastic about what was to come and hardly gave the extravagant spectacle a second thought, Kiba couldn't help but think as if something was off about the palace. For a moment, the boy thought he was going mad, because nothing had really changed about it. He could still hardly see it, only able to make out the definate shape of an enormous structure. It was just this feeling he got in the pit of his stomach when he looked at it. That had never happened before. "Kiba, what's taking you so long?" When Kiba turned to face his brother, he was staring down at a slender wolf, not a twelve-year-old boy. The full moon was reflected in its amber eyes, and its brown fur was sleek and well kept, a complete difference from the scrawny boy Toboe was when the sun came up. "Is there something wrong?"

"Toboe, when you look at the palace, does there seem to be anything different about it?"

Toboe's ear twitched as he turned his head to gaze in the direction of the palace. "Not really. Why, do you think something's wrong?"

Kiba released an almost inaudible sigh of relief, because if Toboe wasn't bothered, then he shouldn't be either. His brother had a habit of sensing even the least bit of darkness in a person or place, one of the curses of being a Seer. The fifteen-year-old shook his head, sinking to the ground with a roll of his shoulders. Changing into Khonsu's Messenger had been painful at first since the two of them had spent so long as humans, but as time went on, and their bodies grew used to only being exercised once a month, they hardly felt the shift at all. Kiba stared down at his paws, sinking his claws into the soft earth beneath them. Having white fur was a curse in his opinion—it made it that much harder to sneak around. His grandmother said white wolves were rare in Egypt, and he should be thankful that the gods had graced him with such a beautiful and unique gift.

The white wolf stifled a grunt as his companion barreled into him, a challenge present in his amber eyes. "Come on, Pharaoh Kiba." He said playfully, crouching low to the ground. "Prove that you were born to lead like Granny says."

Kiba growled lowly in response, baring his teeth in mock anger at the younger, smaller wolf. "Show me how you've improved since the last time we dueled.

He allowed Toboe to strike first, though he dodged every blow before the younger wolf could even touch him. Kiba wasn't afraid to admit that he enjoyed a little combat with his brother from time to time. It was a time when they could revel in the feel of being a wolf, as well as strengthen the bond the two had. He knew for a fact it wasn't just the secrets they shared that spawned the loyalty and affection they felt for one another. Toboe was younger than he, of course, and there would always be that part of Kiba that deemed the boy something that needed to be protected. It actually hadn't always been like that, however. When they were younger, Kiba had actually been a little annoyed by the smaller boy. It seemed he had always wanted to be at Kiba's side, and the older boy had resented that. That had changed the day their parents died, when Kiba thought he'd lost his brother as well. After that, he was the one who'd never left Toboe's side. He loved the boy more than anything, maybe even more than their grandmother, and he knew he'd do anything for him.

The two tussled around a bit more before Kiba overpowered the younger wolf, forcing him to the ground with his bigger and more solid body. Toboe didn't put up much resistance, rolling over onto his back and squirming around in the mud, much to Kiba's displeasure. "Alright, I concede." The brown wolf panted, eyes shining as he gazed up at the annoyed white wolf above him. "What?"

"You know that will be transferred over once we change back." Kiba commented dryly. "You'll have to wash before we go to bed."

"Oh, come on, Kiba, do I have—"

Toboe was cut off as a scream pierced the air. Kiba tensed, feeling the fur rise on the back of his neck as he moved forward to stand over his brother's body defensively, a growl escaping him. "W—What was that?" Toboe whimpered, pressing his trembling body against Kiba's stiff legs.

"I don't know." Kiba replied after a moment, yellow eyes fixated firmly on the palace. It had come from within, he was certain. He doubted they would have heard it had they been regular human boys, but with their hearing as acute as it was, they'd been able to detect it. Suspicion and anxiety started to fill him, though he refused to show it. Who would be up at this hour? And even more importantly, who had that pain-filled scream belonged to?

"Come on, we're going home."

"What? But we've only been out here—"

"Don't argue with me." Kiba snapped, moving out from above his brother so he could nudge him to his paws, effectively using his body to urge Toboe away from the water's edge, away from the palace. "We haven't an idea of what's going on. The safest place to be is at home."

Toboe didn't dare protest again, and the two took off together, leaving the safety of the lush, green vegetation surrounding the banks of the Nile and into the exposure of the dunes. Running in sand had never been easy, and Kiba had often wondered if anyone would find the impressions left by their paws as they struggled to press through it. This night, however, the dry winds were bearing down on them with a vengeance, covering any tracks they might have left, and the two seemed to be moving faster than normal, probably due to the desperation they felt to be home safely with their grandmother.

It took them half the time it normally did to get home, and as Kiba led Toboe through the gates of their village, he wondered if perhaps they should change back into humans, lest they were discovered. But the fear present in Toboe's eyes made him realize that he was in no condition to stomach through a shift, so he kept them in the shadows, praying to the gods that his white fur would not give them away. At the sound of men talking, Kiba froze, one paw poised in mid-air. When he saw the approaching shadows, he turned and leapt off the ledge they were standing by onto the street below them, trusting that Toboe would have the wits to follow.

The white wolf struggled to hear what the men were talking about through Toboe's nervous panting, as well as the thud of his heart which was all too apparent in their current state. He gave up on trying to listen to them and instead pressed closer to Toboe, almost trying to smother the fear out of him with his presence alone. His breath stopped when he heard the guards pause in their rounds, fearing that they had heard them. Kiba reached up to paw at Toboe's muzzle urgently, trying to convey through his gaze alone that he needed to stay quiet. The brown wolf snapped his jaws shut, nodding slightly.

"Did you hear that?" One of the guards asked, and Kiba had to bite his tongue to keep himself from growling. He'd always hated the sound of the guards' voices. They sounded so cruel and uncaring, following the orders of a corrupt pharaoh without giving a damn about the lives they destroyed. They were the reason he was cowering like a criminal.

"Hear what?"

"I thought I heard scuffling. Do you think it's those kids we caught last time we came to this stupid village?"

One of the men chuckled, and Kiba felt Toboe stiffen against him. Not that he could blame him. The guard had sounded sinister. "I think we gave them enough reason to stay indoors once the sun goes down. I doubt they'd dare show their faces again."

"If you say so."

Toboe watched as their shadows moved further away from them, his ears straight and aware of every disturbance. "They're dark." He said when Kiba turned to face him.

Kiba huffed, leading his brother down the darkened street in a hurry. "I could've figured that out on my own."

Thanks to the guards, they'd have to take a different route to get back home. The village was composed of different levels, one giant, raised slab of stone on top of the other. They'd had to jump down a level to get away from the guards, so they had to find a set of stairs leading back up. He hoped they wouldn't have to circle around just to find one. He didn't know how many guards could be lurking around.

Thankfully, the two didn't have to travel far to find stairs leading back up to where their home was located, though it had been enough time to mellow Toboe out a bit, so much in fact that he was bounding up the stone steps ahead of Kiba like he didn't have a care in the world. Kiba let him, if only because they never had a chance to do this during the day. He often wondered what it would be like to walk down the street in his wolf form without worrying about being beheaded. The thought made him sigh. It wasn't often that Kiba indulged in fantasies. It only brought disappointment when he realized it would never happen.

When the two were about to round the corner to their street, Kiba took the lead once more, forcing Toboe to stay back. "The guard." He said quietly, poking his head around the corner. Sure enough, the palace guard that was normally stationed on their street was there, walking back and forth in front of the house across from their own. He was never there when they came home early in the morning before the sun peaked, so Kiba wasn't exactly sure how to distract him. "We need to get rid of him somehow."

There was silence for a moment, but then Kiba felt Toboe shift behind him, the warmth his body provided disappearing. "Hey," Kiba started, turning, "what are you—"

"Calm down." Toboe said dismissively, slinking off into the shadows of a side street where most of the merchants worked during the day. "You said we need to get rid of him. I'll circle around and make a noise to draw him away. I'll be back before you know it."

And before Kiba could protest again, the brown wolf was gone with a flick of his tail, swallowed within the darkness of the night. The white wolf growled lowly, crouching low to the ground to wait for whatever "distraction" Toboe had in mind. He rested his muzzle on his paws, keeping his ears pricked for any approaching guards. A few minutes after Toboe left, a terrible shriek was heard from somewhere in the village, down in the direction where Toboe said he was going. The guard started at his position, glancing around before rushing away, clutching tightly at his spear. Kiba watched him go through narrowed eyes. _That spear would do him no good should I decide to sink my teeth into his leg. _

He may have hated violence, but Kiba was all too willing to rough up anyone who served under Pharaoh Darcia III.

Pushing himself up, Kiba rounded the corner on two legs instead of four, wiping away mud that had once been on the pads of his paw but where now inbetween his fingers. As he walked towards their home, Toboe made an appearance once more, bounding around the corner with a certain glint in his eyes. When he noticed Kiba's current human state, he changed as well, face flattening and smile becoming much more apparent. "What did you do?" Kiba asked with a slight sigh.

"Someone left their chickens outside." The younger boy replied, shrugging his shoulders. Just as Kiba had said, he was covered from head to toe in mud. "All I had to do was growl at them. Did you know that the chickens curse just as humans do?"

"Animals and humans are more alike than most people realize. I'm sure they didn't appreciate you interrupting their sleep."

"They still didn't have to call me a bastard."

Kiba laughed at the scowl present on his brother's face, feeling safe enough to relax now that they were essentially home. But just when Kiba was about to push open the door, he paused. "What is it?" Toboe asked, glancing behind them while keeping a firm grip on his brother's arm. "Hurry, that guard might come back soon."

But the guard was the least of Kiba's worries. With wide eyes, he leaned forward a bit, placing a hand on the wooden surface of the door. It opened without resistance, which wasn't unusual since their grandmother always left the latch on the door unlocked so they could get back in. The scent that assaulted the two boys was strong and pungent, like burning copper at the blacksmith's. It was how the house had smelled when their parents had been killed. Kiba stepped inside, Toboe following close behind him.

At first, nothing seemed out of place. The bread was still rising on the stove, not yet finished since they normally didn't return until an hour or so before the sun rose. Kiba couldn't help but note that there were two more than usual, but he pushed the thought aside quickly. The wooden benches and the table weren't overturned, the medicines were still intact, and nothing was broken. But Kiba knew something was amiss.

Kiba gripped Toboe's hand tightly, uncurling the fingers clenched so tightly around his upper arm, his mind a blank slate, even when his brother made a small noise of discontent. There were scents in the home that shouldn't have been, the smell of sweat and a musk that neither he nor Toboe were able to secrete at such a young age. Two older men had been in their home from the smell of it. But why?

The fifteen-year-old turned around, reaching past Toboe to shut the door quietly lest the guard return. His brother was gazing around with wide eyes, his abnormally pale skin even more so than usual, sweat and dirt rolling down his face in beads, but he couldn't comfort the younger boy just yet, not when he still didn't know what had transpired whilst they were at the Nile.

He began his search in his grandmother's room. The entrance was underneath the stairs, and he pushed aside the curtain, recoiling when that same coppery scent assaulted him. This was where the scuffle had taken place. The sheets adorning the bed were strewn all over the floor, the oil lamp on the wall broken. Kiba reached a hand behind him to stop Toboe from entering, able to feel his brother's presence behind him. "Is she asleep?" His quiet voice asked.

Kiba said nothing for a moment, ice blue eyes flickering to and fro as he took in the blood splattered on the sheets, on the walls, _everywhere. _No words could describe the emotion that coursed through him when he noticed the hand peaking out from underneath the bloodied blankets, the golden ring adorning the fourth finger that was the symbol of a past union with his deceased grandfather. He'd know that hand anywhere. How many times had it brushed his hair back when everything about their lives became too much and he couldn't stop the tears from falling? "Yes. She's asleep."

He released the curtain, blocking his view of the carnage within the room, turning to face Toboe. The twelve-year-old was looking up at him with watery brown eyes, hands fisted tightly at his sides. "You don't have to lie to me." He said thickly. "Is Granny dead?"

Kiba gazed down at him, unsure of what to say for a change. For some reason, he was oddly calm about this entire thing. Maybe it just hadn't occurred to him yet that their guardian was gone, and they were alone, that it was now solely his responsibility to protect and care for his younger brother. A tanned hand reached up to cup the small boy's face, wiping away the tear that had fallen and the grime adorning the boy's skin along with it. Toboe would have none of it, however, and he flinched away from Kiba's hand, backing away from him. "This is my fault." He said wretchedly. "I—I should have seen it. We could've saved her!"

His mind finally returning, Kiba followed after his brother and grabbed his face once more, this time with both hands, forcing him to meet his eyes. "Don't you dare." He said forcefully, giving Toboe a shake. "This has _nothing_ to do with you. It's not your fault."

"What's the point of being a Seer if I can't protect those I care about?" Toboe cried, forgetting to stay quiet. "I'm too busy dreaming about things that don't even matter to see that—" He broke off with a heart-broken sob, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to pull away from Kiba once more. "She's dead, Kiba. She's _dead._"

Kiba moved his hands, one wrapping around the distraught boy's shoulders while the other grasped the back of his head, yanking him closer. Toboe collapsed into his embrace, burying his face in Kiba's chest, shoulders shaking with sobs. "You're okay, Little One." Kiba murmured into his brother's hair. It was something their father had called Toboe, and the older boy had picked it up in an attempt to keep the man's spirit alive. Over time, it had become a habit. "We'll be fine, there's no need to cry."

Small, nimble fingers curled into the front of Kiba's tunic as Toboe shook his head. "I should've seen it." Kiba's clothing muffled the words, but he heard them all the same. Even if Toboe hadn't been gifted with the powers of a Seer, Kiba knew he still would've found a way to blame himself for the death of their grandmother. It had always been like this. The boy had even taken the blame for their parents' demise once he was old enough to have such thoughts. Toboe may have only been five at the time, but Kiba knew he remembered more than he would've liked to admit, though he never explained how he'd ended up covered in their parents' blood, or why their attackers hadn't killed him as well.

Kiba allowed his brother to cry himself into exhaustion, holding him tightly with his eyes locked on the door. He pictured the door opening slowly, two men stepping into the home while the guard was away, their faces obscured in shadows. One pulled a dagger, and the two disappeared inside their grandmother's room. The boy wondered how they'd silenced her screams, why no one had come to see what had gone wrong. Kiba closed his eyes, blocking out the images for the time being. Toboe was his first priority.

He shifted the boy in his arms, keeping one arm around his shoulders as he guided him across the room and towards the stairs. Upon entering their bedroom, Kiba knew the intruders had come up there as well. That same musky scent was clinging to the curtain when he pushed it aside, and he spotted a drop of blood on the ground near the bed. So, they'd killed their grandmother and then came up to their room? Kiba pushed Toboe down onto the bed gently, hoping he hadn't noticed what he had. "Stay here." He said quietly, turning to leave. "I'll be back."

Toboe said nothing, and Kiba entered the main room once more to look for something to clean his brother off with. There was a cloth on the table that they used to clean their dishes off after a meal, and after checking to make sure it was clean enough, Kiba grabbed the pale of water and went back to the room.

The younger boy hadn't moved at all in his absence, and the blank look in his eyes set Kiba on edge in a way that seeing his dead grandmother's body hadn't. Setting the bucket on the ground, he placed the cloth on the bed and began to remove Toboe's soiled tunic. The twelve-year-old offered no resistance and stayed perfectly still as the clothing was removed, raising his arms over his head when Kiba asked him to and then letting them fall just as quickly. The older boy tossed the tunic off to the side and then grabbed the cloth, soaking it in the pale. He wrung it out gently before beginning the process of cleaning Toboe off.

Dull brown eyes never left Kiba's face once throughout the entire process, perhaps searching for any sign of the emotions that had already claimed the younger of the two brothers. It was Kiba's policy to never show such crippling emotion in front of his brother if he could help it, for if even he couldn't stay calm how could he expect Toboe to? Toboe never stopped trying to snuff it out of him, however, and Kiba couldn't help but think fondly of how sharp the boy was even in such a state.

Once Kiba was finished cleaning his brother's hands, he placed them gently back in the boy's lap before checking him over for anything he could've missed. "Why are you cleaning me up when you should be taking care of her?"

Blue met brown evenly, though Kiba waited until he'd put the cloth back in the bucket before answering. "Grandmother always said to care for those who could be saved first."

The flinch was expected, as was the look of pure anger that crossed the younger boy's face. "You're a jerk."

"I know."

Kiba took the bucket of water back downstairs while Toboe burrowed himself in the bed with an air of rage. Even when it was placed by the door, just as it was every day, he made no move to go back to the bedroom. He pulled the lichen back on the window a bit to see if the guard was back to make his last round before returning to the palace. He was, so Kiba turned his attention once more to the scene that had caused his brother so much grief.

He entered his grandmother's chamber fully for the first time that night, ignoring how his head spun from the excess amounts of blood. He had always been told to approach a corpse with caution, lest there be a disease that could be transferred from the living to the dead, but Kiba knew his guardian had been the picture of health. He sunk to his knees beside the body, reaching forward to pull back the blankets covering it without hesitation to assess the damage.

A single cut to the throat was what had done the elderly woman in, though Kiba still couldn't possibly fathom how the blood had gotten all over the place. Perhaps the murderers had only come to rob their home, had killed his grandmother without planning to, and then panicked, thus creating a chaotic scene in the wake of their own guilt. Kiba snorted at his own thoughts, reaching down to close his grandmother's eyes. _How could this be anything less than intentional? _He thought as he gazed around the room. _Nothing was taken. _Or at least nothing that a fleeting glance could see. The fifteen-year-old truthfully wasn't in the mood to search the house and take calculations. He could already feel the beginnings of panic and disbelief beginning to course through him. He may have been reserved, but he saw no reason to withhold his feelings about the death of his family member.

But before he allowed himself to grieve, he had to think of a plan.

From here on out, he and Toboe were alone in the world. They would trust each other and no one else, and once the initial transition was over with, they would do all right for themselves. Kiba would continue where his grandmother left off as the village healer, and with luck, Toboe would continue to grow in his Seer abilities—which Kiba knew next to nothing about—and would become a welcome asset to Egypt. But being the skeptic that he was, Kiba knew Toboe could never be open with his gift. Revealing one of their two precious secrets wasn't something they could afford, especially when both carried the possibility of execution.

Deciding to leave the body where it was for the time being, Kiba recovered it and left the room, itching to get back to Toboe as soon as possible. The boy had never liked to be left alone. After taking all the loaves of bread off the stove—he still couldn't fathom why there were two extra—and leaving them to cool, he turned to go back to the room, but paused in his journey up the steps, one hand braced on the stone wall as realization hit him.

He'd thought something odd about the way his grandmother had been acting earlier in the day, asking them about medical remedies for no apparent reason. Toboe had often suffered from shortness of breath as a child, and while the attacks had lessoned as he grew, they still plagued him from time to time. And mummification—

Kiba felt his eyes widen. Mummification. Had the woman _known _she was going to perish this night? Had she been making sure Kiba knew what to do with her once she'd left to join the gods? It explained the questions, the unusually firm hugs she'd given them before they left for the Nile, and the extra loaves of bread baking when they'd returned. All the pieces clicked, yet they still didn't make sense to him. _Why didn't she just tell me? We could've left if she thought herself to be in danger. _It was one of the things that infuriated him most about his grandmother. She'd always kept things a secret if she deemed them too stressful for him to handle.

Something else troubled him as well. If she'd known she was to die, then it had been intentional, just as he'd thought. He thought of the bloodstain in his room, of the unfamiliar scents of his grandmother's killers. Had they gone looking for them as well? If Kiba and Toboe had been home instead of at the river, would they be lying on the floor with their throats slit? Dread settled low in the young man's stomach, for he now realized just how close he'd come to dying tonight. If they were meant to be killed as well, then the murderers were sure to return to finish what they had started.

As Kiba continued his journey to his room and gazed upon Toboe's still form in the bed for a few moments before lying down beside him, he realized he would not be continuing his grandmother's duty as healer of their village. If he valued his life and that of his younger brother, then he would have to relocate himself and his brother before Ra fell in the sky the next day. The men responsible surely wouldn't return for a few more rises, so they had some time, but Kiba refused to wait. He wasn't going to allow faceless strangers to end their lives. If it weren't for his grandmother's actions and the sloppy handiwork of her killers, he never would've come to that conclusion, and that alone frightened him greatly. He knew how Toboe must have felt then, to not see something that should've been so obvious to him. Luckily for them, Kiba had always been the observant type, and if the gods were on their side, then they would be far away from the destruction of their peace by moonrise tomorrow.

Kiba continued to stare at the ceiling as Toboe shifted in the bed beside him, turning over so his back was no longer facing his older brother. "Kiba?"

The dark-haired boy turned his head slightly, fixing his companion with a gentle gaze when he saw the conflicted expression on Toboe's face. "Yes?"

He bit his lip harshly, hard enough to draw blood, though thankfully none appeared. Kiba had seen enough blood tonight to last him a lifetime. "I don't really think you're a jerk."

A rueful smile spread across Kiba's face, and he shifted onto his left side, raising his right arm to allow his younger brother to slide into the safety and comfort that his body provided. "I know."

Toboe let out a sound akin to a laugh that eventually turned into a heartbroken sob, and Kiba held the boy tightly as he emptied himself of his tears for the second time that night, finally allowing a few of his own to slip past their barriers.

The two fell asleep together just as they did every night, though in their final moments of awareness, they both couldn't help but note the absence of the snores coming from downstairs that had so often lulled them to sleep, or the smell of death that hung around them like the plague.

* * *

Cher pretended not to know that things went on in the Pharaoh's throne room after nightfall.

She'd never dared to approach the room, nor listen in on whatever was being discussed for fear for her own life, yet it was hard to sit by and pretend to be the ignorant, obedient slave that she wasn't.

She was obedient to the Queen, of course, for the woman had been kind to her ever since the Egyptian soldiers had torn her away from her homeland when she was fifteen. Without the Queen's kindness and patience, Cher didn't think she would've lived her life in the palace unscathed.

Even while sitting at the princess' bedside, Cher knew something was wrong. She folded her hands in her lap, bowing her head as she silently gazed at the young girl in the bed. Princess Blue seemed to be a completely different person when she slept. When the sun was up, the girl kept her head high and regarded everyone with an air of indifference, sometimes even acting as such to Cher herself. But the blonde-haired servant was also one of the few people to ever see the young monarch at her most vulnerable, when all her defenses were down and the power of the moon was wreaking havoc on her fragile constitution.

Cher had been forced to strip the girl down to her undergarments whilst she was asleep, she'd been sweating so much. Even now the girl was still drenched, tossing her head back and forth every now and then as she slept. "If only you would heed your mother's warnings." The older woman said softly, lest she wake the girl from her fitful slumber. "Your suffering would cease, and all of Egypt would rejoice."

And oh how the land would celebrate should their princess step out from her father's shadow. Cher had tried to steer the girl in the right direction since the day she'd been born, but the Pharaoh had taken it upon himself to corrupt his daughter, teach her the ways of a cruel leader. Cher had faith that Blue would never stoop to the levels her father had in his time as ruler of Egypt, but she also knew that the dark-haired royal harbored a hatred for wolves that rivaled her father's.

Unless something changed, Princess Isis Darcia would become the queen of a land ruled by fear.

The notion left Cher heartbroken.

The sound of the door to the princess' chamber opening didn't startle the woman at all, for she knew only one person would dare enter at this time of night, and on this day no less.

"How is she?"

"Hot to the touch." Cher replied quietly, watching with a heavy heart as Tsume walked further into the room, just as he did every month on the night of the full moon. His golden eyes seemed to be brighter than ever before, alight with something Cher herself could not possibly understand. "She grows worse with every passing moon."

The sixteen-year-old sighed, actually beginning to look agitated. "She is a fool, Cher."

"She knows not of what she is doing. Her father has—"

"Led her astray in the ways of a leader." He cut her off with finality that only he could get away with. "You spew the same rubbish every time we speak."

"Tis the truth."

"The truth will not be getting us out of this darkness, now will it?"

Cher resisted the urge to glare at the young man, instead leaning forward to place a wet cloth on the princess' forehead. Blue shivered in her sleep, fisting the sheets covering her body with nimble fingers. "You know nothing, Tsume. The Queen believes telling the truth would benefit all of us greatly."

"Telling the Pharaoh what really happened to his son will result in the executions of us all." The boy commented dryly, reaching down to finger the hilt of the sword at his side off-handedly. It had never really bothered her that the temperamental boy had such a weapon in his possession, yet he claimed on multiple occasions that he would not hesitate the strike down anyone who irritated him the least bit. If his words rang true, the princess wouldn't be breathing this night. "He would ask his whereabouts, and that is information we cannot give even if we wanted to."

Tsume was one of three people in the entire palace who knew of what had happened to the prince. He'd been a year old at the time of the boy's disappearance, just a child learning to toddle across the marble floors of the great hall, but as he grew, he proved to be a resourceful and trustworthy man of great courage. When Cher thought of the prince she had smuggled from the palace so many years ago, she often imagined he would be like Tsume, yet not as abrasive. Telling him of Kiba had been the Queen's idea, and while Cher hadn't approved at first, it felt liberating to know that she wasn't the only servant who bore the burden of such a secret. Having a healthy partner to help keep the knowledge that she had a sibling away from the princess made the task all the easier.

"I often wonder what would come about if Prince Kiba ever returned." The woman said with a slight sigh. "But he is far away from Egypt at this point. Kamiah promised to take him from Egypt when he could survive such a journey."

"Even so, he's fifteen at this point, a year younger than I." Tsume retorted, lowering his voice as the princess shifted once more in the bed. "What good would having him around do? Darcia would just manipulate him into being a tyrant as well."

"Blue will not grow up to be a tyrant!"

"I never said she would." The words were as sharp as a dagger, and Cher allowed her anger to subside, at least for now. If anyone cared for Blue more than her own mother and governess, it was her guard. He often expressed concern over the girl's well being, especially now that she was approaching her fourteenth harvest. In all her years of life, not once had she turned into a Messenger of Khonsu. It was the reason the two of them were still up this late in the evening. On the night of the full moon, Blue fell ill with a sickness that resembled her own mother's, though it always disappeared come the next day. Blue knew nothing of it, for she never remembered anything that transpired on these nights when Ra lit up the sky the next day. Cher feared that one day, the sickness would remain even after a full moon, and the girl would end up just like her mother.

"Hamona thinks having been raised as a peasant will make the boy a better leader." Cher said after a few moments of silence. "What say you?"

Tsume sighed, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against the bedpost. "I tend not to think of the 'what ifs' if it's all the same to you. I do not believe that the prince will ever return to the palace. How could he? He knows nothing of his true origins."

"We know not if Kamiah ever told him. After the death of her daughter and her daughter's husband, we haven't received word about him."

"Perhaps it is for the best. You all sit around like fools, sending prayer after prayer to the gods that always remain unanswered."

"Watch your tongue." Cher hissed, earning an amused chuckle from the young man. He had always been one to question things, even the gods themselves. Perhaps it was why the Pharaoh favored him. Neither believed in the power of the gods. "You bring shame upon your parents by blatantly denying the beings who you owe your very existence."

Her fury only mounted when the boy waved a hand dismissively, a small smirk on his face. "Spare me another lecture on the means of my creation. But do tell. Do a man and a woman not have relations and make a child? Or is it the _gods _who make them magically appear?"

"Tis the parents who bore them but—"

"Ah, ah, ah!" He said shaking his head. "If what you say of the gods is true then there should be no buts. I owe my very existence to the woman who suckled me as a babe and the man who taught me how to wield a sword. She gave me life, they both made sure breath never left my body. If I was born of the gods, then I would be pharaoh, now wouldn't I?"

"Cease your words before you disturb the Young Mistress." Cher said tersely, ignoring the soft chuckles escaping him. "Do not speak blasphemy in her presence."

"Pardon? The Young Mistress hears of it from her own father more than I. As a mere guard to my princess, I hold no power over her decisions as a person."

"I worry for your soul, Tsume, should there still be one within your body. I wish not to think of what would happen to you should you meet your end."

"Fret not, governess to my princess. As a wolf, I was born with the right to enter Paradise, remember? I have no need for your afterlife, seeing as I have one of my own."

"Seeing as you believe in Paradise as much as you do the gods, I doubt I have no reason to worry."

A terrible scream cut off whatever Tsume might have said in response, and the young woman practically flung herself over the vulnerable girl in the bed while Tsume drew his sword, pointing the deadly weapon towards the door. For a moment, neither moved and no sound was heard, but the pounding of Cher's heart refused to cease. After a few moments, the young man began to lower his sword slowly, though his golden eyes remained fixated on the door, a wicked sort of glint in them. "What was that?" Cher whispered eventually, checking to make sure her quick movements hadn't awoken the princess.

"Remember when I told you last rise that the Pharaoh had a new Seer to torture?"

Cher couldn't help the whimper that escaped her at his words. "Oh, no."

"Oh, yes." Tsume replied grimly, sheathing his sword. "She is usually kept in the dungeons, but it seems the Pharaoh has grown frustrated this night and brought her to the throne room." Cher had long grown used to the fact that Tsume heard things much clearer than she ever would and tended to know where a person was just from sound and scent alone.

"Is he—Do you smell blood?"

He sniffed the air at her inquiry, nose wrinkling in disgust. "I know not of what I smell. It is more foul than a swine sent to slaughter."

This was not good. Cher knew nothing of why the Pharaoh was no insistent on locating a Seer, and after years of searching, he'd finally found one. She herself had never seen her, but Tsume had described her as having skin as pale as the moon and eyes as red as blood. She could only imagine what horrors the girl was facing if she had screamed like that, and she could only pray that her suffering would end soon.

"What is the bastard searching for?" Tsume growled, turning to face the bed once more. "There is only so much my father will tell me, and Darcia's reasoning behind this madness is not one of them."

"Perhaps he is wondering about the future of Egypt."

The look the young guard sent her way was one of sadness, disapproval, surprise, and irritation. It was often a look she'd seen him use on the princess when she did something he deemed ignorant, or when he was in the presence of the Queen and she went on one of her mantras about the son she gave up.

"Egypt has no future, Cher."

A shiver went up her spine at his words, and she reached forward to grip the princess' trembling hand in her own. Together, the two sets of tremors multiplied and grew into something more violent. "Egypt will always have a future," she said quietly, "just as there will always be a light in the darkness, Tsume. We just have to find it."

The sixteen-year-old shook his head, putting a hand on his sword once more as he turned and began to make his exit. He was their spy. With the Seer above ground it was his duty to gather whatever information he could about just what the Pharaoh was doing to her. But before he disappeared for good, not to be seen until the next day when Blue left her chambers for their morning rounds in the garden, he spoke to her once more.

"If your precious gods are truly as powerful and caring as you claim, then surely they wouldn't wait for you to find that light while the darkness destroys us all."

Then he was gone, leaving Cher with the notion that she had not only failed to keep the princess on the right path, but her guard as well.


	4. Chapter 3

_Author's Note: _Blue's such a brat in this. Someone needs to give her a reality check. I wonder who will be given that task? Hige should be showing his face sometime around . . . well, I don't really know, but he will at some point. Next chapter, I think . . . ? Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

_shenti—_it's like a white piece of cloth that resembles a skirt…well, all the Egyptian men I've seen in movies make them look amazing, so it can't be too terrible.

_Field of Reeds_—part of the afterlife. In this story, it's essentially another name for Paradise, where you can live a long, satisfying life in a perfect Egypt or whatnot.

_kohl—_eyeliner.

* * *

_**Chapter 3**_

* * *

Bringing up the subject of leaving their home with Toboe had been harder than Kiba had originally thought.

They both awoke around the same time the next day, when the sun was halfway across the sky. Toboe hadn't said a word, and Kiba left him alone for the most part, allowing his younger brother time to sort through whatever it was he was feeling on his own. Kiba had learned through experience that if you tried to push Toboe into talking about something when he wasn't ready, you were rewarded with heavy resistance and fierce bouts of unreserved anger. But just because Toboe wouldn't talk didn't mean he'd checked out on life completely.

The boy had been like his older brother's shadow all day, trailing along wherever Kiba went, except for their grandmother's bedroom. Just because one life had ended didn't mean that everything going on around them had as well. Their neighbors still came by for medicine, and Kiba had no other choice but to give them what they needed, even though he knew they would need medicines more in the coming days. He couldn't tell them what had happened, especially if their lives were still in danger. He couldn't bring any attention to their grandmother's murder, so he'd had to go into the room where her body was and sprinkle excess amounts of incense around to mask the smell of death.

It didn't really matter to either of them how hard Kiba tried to mask the scent. They could still _smell _it. And that made it all the harder for them to deny what was happening to their lives.

The silence between him and his brother unsettled Kiba greatly, even if he had promised himself he would wait until Toboe was ready to discuss their predicament. Nothing about their lives was ever quiet. Toboe always had something to say, something to comment on.

"Thank you for being such a dear, Kiba."

Thankful for the distraction but still annoyed by it nonetheless, Kiba only nodded in response, one hand braced on the door in preparation to shut this woman out of his home.

He'd only seen her once or twice before, so he couldn't recall a name for her. His grandmother had dealt with the house calls more than he. She'd come earlier in the morning, asking for a tonic to cure her ill husband, who was suffering from a high fever. It figured the one thing she'd wanted wasn't something his grandmother had prepared before she left, so he'd had to invite her inside while he prepared the medicine. It had taken time, during which the woman had taken to trying to coax Toboe into conversation. Toboe had tried to indulge her, Kiba knew, but his heart wasn't in it. The boy who normally soaked up attention like a pit of quicksand was gone for the time being, and even Kiba didn't know when he'd be back. Having the chatty woman in his home had been stressful to say the least, just waiting for her to notice what lay beyond the sweet-smelling aroma wafting from the bedroom. He considered himself lucky that she'd believed him when he told her his grandmother was asleep.

"Say hello to your grandmother for me!" The woman called once more as she hustled down the busy street outside, completely oblivious to the mournful look he cast after her.

Toboe was still sitting at the table when Kiba shut the door, eyes half-lidded as he rested his chin on his forearms. He'd been sitting around in nothing but a shenti all day, exposing skin that had seemed to grow paler in his grief. Oh, how desperately Kiba wanted him to feel better. Thankfully for him, it seemed as if the younger boy had finally decided that enough was enough. Perhaps the woman had pushed him to that point with her careless comments.

"So, now what?" He asked quietly, gazing over at Kiba's form by the door without much interest. "Is this how life is going to be from now on? Lie upon lie?"

Suddenly feeling fatigued, Kiba shook his head, placing a hand on the back of his neck as he sat down across from Toboe. "Lying is a fate neither of us can escape, I'm afraid."

"I thought so." Silence for a heartbeat, and then another question. "Kiba, why didn't you tell any of those people about . . . about what happened?"

"Why should I?"

Toboe actually looked perplexed by his instant response. "Whoever killed Granny needs to pay!"

"I never thought you'd be inclined to execute revenge, little brother."

"Are you really not as bothered by this as I am?" Toboe asked quietly, and the question alone was enough to make Kiba wince in regret. Perhaps trying to be light about the situation wasn't going to work. But would Toboe be able to handle what Kiba really thought about their grandmother's death? Would he even believe him? His entire theory was based on guessing, after all. The clues were there, they just didn't fit, and Kiba wasn't sure how to fix it.

"Toboe, I didn't tell anyone because it is not their business, nor is it beneficial to our survival." His brother paled more at the words, though Kiba didn't give himself a chance to rethink his approach a second time. "I think whoever killed Grandmother is after us as well."

Toboe stared up at him, brown eyes wide, and slowly, he lifted his head off his arms. "What?"

"Their scents were in our room." Kiba really hadn't needed to say it aloud. He was certain Toboe had noticed. "As well as a drop of blood. They killed her and knew we were supposed to be here as well."

"But we weren't."

"Exactly." Kiba reached out and placed a hand on Toboe's arm, choosing to ignore how it shook with slight tremors for the time being. "I don't think what happened was an accident. I think whoever killed her came with the intent to do just that, but to take us as well."

"B—But why?" Toboe asked, utterly lost and confused. Perhaps even panicked, for it couldn't be easy to think that someone was out plotting your death. Kiba truly hoped he wasn't misguided in his thoughts, for he would never forgive himself if he was scaring Toboe for no good reason. "What did we ever do?"

Kiba didn't really have to answer that question, for Toboe found his answer mere seconds after voicing the question. The answer was in their blood, in the genes their family carried. Toboe looked as if he were going to cry again, but thankfully managed to hold the tears back. "Why do people hate wolves, Kiba?" He demanded, eyes flashing with an emotion not often seen on the younger boy. Anger. "What did we ever do to deserve this—this—"

"Misery?" Kiba supplied, gripping his brother's arm tighter in an effort to calm him, if only a little bit. "I haven't a clue."

"The gods wouldn't have created wolves if we weren't important. Granny always said we were the link between their world and ours!"

"No, she said _you _were the link, Toboe." Kiba corrected with a soft smile. "Seers are the ones who can decipher what it is the gods want us to know."

"Then why haven't I been able to help?" Kiba kept his face neutral, even though he knew he'd unintentionally opened up old wounds from the previous night. Toboe's pulse rate had increased, and Kiba could literally see his brother's chest thumping with ever beat of his heart. He stared at that spot, telling himself over and over that they would be fine, because they were _alive_. "Maybe that dream I keep having could have helped us prevent this, but I'm just too inexperienced to know how to make sense of it."

"That is hardly your fault." Kiba retorted, glaring at his companion sternly. "You haven't been properly trained."

"Dad helped me. He knew what he was doing. But he's dead." Toboe blinked, almost as if he hadn't expected the words that tumbled out of his mouth. He didn't look depressed, however, just simply subdued. "Everyone's dying."

Kiba said nothing, for it was truthful, if not slightly misguided by the shock that Toboe had still yet to overcome. The other boy blinked, gazing down at the hand that Kiba had firmly clamped around his arm. "You're not allowed to die." He stated loudly, firmly, as if it weren't up for discussion.

Kiba simply nodded. "I'm not going anywhere."

Seemingly satisfied for the time being, Toboe released a small sigh, slouching over in his seat. "So, now what do we do? I mean, if someone's coming for us, we can't stay here."

"My thoughts exactly." Kiba affirmed, pleased that Toboe was finally starting to click with what was going on around him. Two opinions were better than one. "I don't feel right uprooting you like this, but staying isn't an option."

"Don't worry about me." Toboe said off-handedly. "I'll go wherever you want me to."

Sometimes Toboe's unwavering loyalty unnerved Kiba, who wasn't particularly sure he deserved it, but now really wasn't the time to be dwelling on such insecurities. "I say we leave once the sun goes down tonight." Kiba said. "It'll give us plenty of time to gather supplies and come to terms with what we're doing."

Toboe nodded, but there was still that spark of anxiety in his eyes. "What about Granny?"

_Should've seen that one coming. _"Toboe, I—I don't feel right about it, but we have to leave her where she is."

The look that crossed the boy's face was one of absolute horror. "But—"

"Preparing a body for burial takes time, Toboe; time that we don't have."

"If we don't perform some sort of ritual, her spirit may not make it to the Afterlife!"

"I do not believe that the gods would deny a soul that has not been properly set free." Kiba said firmly. It was moments like these when he thought of his father, who had been a rather opinionated man. He and their mother had gotten into disputes about matters involving the gods often. Toboe still looked hesitant to comply, so Kiba tried a different approach. "If we allow her body to remain where it is, the villagers are bound to stumble across it once we've gone. They'll grow curious, like all humans do. Our absence will probably make them assume we were killed as well, if not taken and forced into slavery. Perhaps our pursuers will let us alone if they believe something happened. They won't stop to think that maybe we are smarter than we look and figured out their plans."

Toboe said nothing for a moment, thinking over what had been said, and then he nodded. "Alright. I know you know what you're doing, Kiba."

_That makes one of us. _Kiba thought ruefully as Toboe started to speak once more. "Where will we go? We're not leaving Egypt, are we?"

Kiba shook his head. "No. I've been thinking about it all day, to tell you the truth, but I can't cart you across the desert just to escape a threat that might not even be real. I decided we're going to the northernmost city."

Toboe couldn't withhold his gasp. "Why? That's near the palace, Kiba, it's practically right outside its doors!"

"I know that, but remember what Grandmother always said? She used to talk about the mass quantities of homeless children in the city. We'd blend right in. No one would notice two more. And there's work to be done there."

"Work that involves being _whipped _for no reason." Toboe practically hissed. "And that's labor stuff. You know as well as I do that I wasn't built for that kind of—"

"Oh, there's no way I'd ever allow you to do something like that." The Pharaoh had seemed to take a liking to the thought of everyone worshipping him in the past year or so, and statues and monuments to him were always being built. Kiba was glad to say that the madness hadn't reached their small village as of yet. It seemed as if slaves weren't enough to get the job done, so the palace guards and soldiers had taken to enlisting civilians to help. Kiba wasn't above working for a living, yet he wished it didn't involve immortalizing that bastard pharaoh. "I was speaking for myself."

Toboe looked genuinely afraid on Kiba's behalf. "Kiba—"

"Hey." Kiba interrupted gently, withdrawing his hand only to tap his brother on the nose gently. "Let me worry about taking care of us. I'll be fine. I may not be a Seer, but I'm still a Messenger of Khonsu. It'll take more than a couple of whips to take me down."

Toboe smiled then, his first true smile since this whole disaster had taken place. "Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting."

"You always were rather scatter-brained."

"Watch it, or I'll use my Seer abilities on you."

The rest of the day passed on with relative ease, only marred by one or two neighbors stopping by for potions or whatnot. Toboe was happier, and therefore so was Kiba, yet the knowledge of what was to be done still weighed heavily on his mind. When the sun began to set, Kiba ordered Toboe upstairs to get what little clothing they could take with them, as well as get him out of sight before the guards showed up for their nightly rounds.

Kiba was wrapping the bread their grandmother had made in banana leaves when the pounding began, and he forced his breathing to remain controlled as he went to answer the door. He'd never done so on his own before, wasn't even sure what the guards would ask him once he did. But he kept his head held high, didn't miss a beat as he opened the door and was greeted by two mean-looking guards. Kiba refused to look at the spears in their hands.

The one who had knocked stared down at Kiba through narrowed eyes, though Kiba himself was more interested in the scar running down the right side of the man's face. The eye on that side was still there, yet it was foggy, almost completely white in appearance, never to be used for seeing again. "Where is the woman who runs this house?" He demanded.

"My grandmother is ill and cannot leave her chambers." Kiba replied smoothly. "My brother and I were just preparing for bed."

Nothing was said for a long moment, during which Kiba was certain the guards were sizing him up, yet they backed away from the door eventually with only stiff nods of farewell before moving on to the next house. Kiba shut the door quietly, all too aware of his racing heart. "Were they as ugly as Granny described them to be?" Toboe had poked his head out of their room and was looking down at Kiba, trying to see his reaction.

"Worse." Kiba replied. "Are you finished up there?"

"Just about." Was the muffled reply as Toboe disappeared once more.

Kiba shook his head, moving towards the stairs with a goal in mind. After hesitating for only a moment, he shed his human skin and began to sniff at the individual stones, searching for the scent of cloth and papyrus. After finding the stone he was looking for, Kiba reached up with a paw to claw at the surface, searching for the spot where his claw should just—

_There. _The stone brick fell to the floor with a loud clatter as Kiba pawed it out, and he crouched, tense and ready for the guards to come see what the noise had been about. No one came though, not even Toboe, so Kiba released a sigh of relief as he changed back, kneeling by the stairs as he reached into the small cavern within the steps, pulling out a cloth sack and a scroll. Thinking back to when his grandmother had first told him about the hiding place within the stairs, Kiba wondered if perhaps she'd known this was going to happen for quite some time.

The small, cloth bag was filled with coins. Copper, silver, gold, Kiba wasn't exactly sure, for he hadn't looked inside for a while. His grandmother said to him once that she'd been saving them for emergencies—Kiba could guess what type now—and while he felt a little conflicted about taking them, he knew they would just be left to rust if he didn't. The scroll was of little use to Kiba, for whatever was on it was written in a language Kiba didn't understand. It had meant something to his grandmother though if she'd hid it away, so he supposed he'd take it with them when they left.

Kiba replaced the stone just as Toboe was exiting the room, carrying a shoulder bag made out of cowhide that had once belonged to their father. "I just grabbed whatever was clean." He explained as Kiba took the bag from him, depositing the coin bag and the unreadable scroll inside before moving to get the wrapped loaves of bread as well. "What was that sound?"

"I emptied out the secret spot."

"Oh. What was inside? You guys never did tell me."

"Coins and a scroll."

"Well, that's terribly boring."

Kiba laughed, turning to face his brother. Toboe had traded the shenti for a more conservative tunic, though the boy didn't look anymore comfortable. Kiba understood that he was nervous, for he was as well, even if he wouldn't tell Toboe. "Can we at least pray over her?" Toboe blurted out suddenly, shifting his weight uneasily from foot to foot. "I know what you said and all, but I just—"

He trailed off there as Kiba nodded in agreement, leading Toboe into the room that would house their dead grandmother until one of the villagers stumbled upon her body when investigating why the family hadn't been seen for some time. The room was still impossibly dark, the stench of blood started to return now that the incense had started to lose affect. Together, the two boys got down on their knees beside the body of the woman who had been at their sides since the day of their births. They'd lost the one thing that had connected them to their old lives, to their parents. They were free in a sense, Kiba supposed, no longer in possession of memories their grandmother had kept alive. They'd never forget, but the pain wouldn't be as unbearable.

"May you ignore her wrong doings, and may you set her as one honored with the spirits." Kiba said softly, knowing that while Toboe had suggested the idea, he wouldn't have the strength to do it himself. "May you protect her soul in the _Sacred Land._ May it navigate in the _Field of Reeds__._ As she shall pass on in joy."

Silence rang out in the wake of his soft prayer, broken only by the sound of his own beating heart. Kiba supposed Toboe had had a point. He did feel somewhat better with just leaving her here now that they'd said some sort of farewell. Kiba started as Toboe got up beside him, moving towards the table at the far end of the room. The blue-eyed youth watched as his brother reached hesitantly for a set of silver bracelets, a piece of jewelry their grandmother had often worn back when their parents were still alive. The younger boy slipped them onto his right wrist without a word and looked back at Kiba, brown eyes filled to the brim with sorrow.

Getting to his feet, Kiba reached for his brother's hand, pulling him back to his side to say one last farewell to their guardian. Toboe was shaking again, and Kiba squeezed tight, trying to remind him that he was not alone, that Kiba was still with him. The younger boy made some sort of noise in the back of his throat before whispering, "Goodbye, Granny."

And Kiba led him from the house, never to look back.

* * *

"I swear, if you stab me in the eye, I'll have you thrashed in view of the entire kingdom."

Tsume shifted his golden gaze up a bit, locking eyes with the irate and sleep-deprived princess of Egypt. The grip he had on her jaw tightened some, and Blue had to physically restrain herself from pulling away to stomp on his foot. It would've been rather nice, satisfying even, but she held herself back. A princess had to posses _some _self-control after all. "The possibility of being stabbed wouldn't be such an issue if you would keep still."

Blue would have rolled her eyes if she was able, but with the current situation she was limited to a slight clenching of her jaw. Tsume smirked in satisfaction before continuing with his work.

Some would say she was being more temperamental than usual, and Blue herself couldn't help but agree with that notion. Visiting nobles from the kingdom of Sinai were coming today, and Cher had woken her up when the sunlight was pouring through her window, just as she did every morning, yet for some reason, Blue felt as if it were earlier than it actually was. She'd gone to bed rather early the previous day—she'd wanted to escape the guilt of yelling at her mother as quickly as possible—so she didn't understand why she was having such a hard time staying awake. Her governess had disappeared soon after for reasons Blue hadn't been able to interrogate out of her, leaving her at the disposal of Tsume.

Normally, Blue wouldn't have minded being left alone with her trustworthy guard, because honestly he was the only one she felt comfortable talking to, but this was different. Even if Tsume was her friend, he was also a man. Why Cher had ordered him to assist her in preparing for the day was beyond Blue, though she wasn't willing to admit to Tsume that she was bothered by the entire spectacle.

She'd insisted on dressing herself—not that Tsume would've helped her even if he was paid to—and had simply pulled her hair up in a series of pins and clips. She could only imagine how downright _horrific _she looked, but Cher was the only person she trusted with her hair. She could always wear it down just as she'd done the other day, Blue supposed, but she didn't want the visiting nobles from the kingdom of Sinai to see her as some wild harlot. "Why must Cher be busy on a day such as this?" The girl groaned, being careful not to move her face too much.

Tsume didn't look up this time, staring under her eyes in concentration as he applied kohl to the rims carefully, almost skillfully. Blue wondered how he'd gotten so good at applying the facial decoration, but she wasn't too particularly interested in the answer, so she stayed silent. "Perhaps she is tidying herself up lest she seem incompetent in the eyes of her kin."

Blue often forgot that Cher was technically a kid-napped slave girl from Sinai. It explained her odd appearance compared to Egyptians like Blue, though the princess herself wasn't exactly of pure lineage either. Her mother was from a kingdom far away from Egypt, a place called Bernike, which was near the sea. She carried almost none of the trademark Egyptian features, such as the dark hair and browned skin. Blue thanked the gods that her father had such strong genes, for she looked more like him than her mother, and therefore felt much more confident in her abilities to lead her country. It was childish, really, to care so much about something as trivial as hair and skin color, yet being half one thing and half of another had always bothered the girl.

Of course, if you looked at it from a different perspective, Blue had three different lines of blood and origin.

"Her duty is to serve me." Blue said stubbornly, blinking rapidly as Tsume finally pulled away, satisfied with his job. She watched as he set the bowl filled with the back substance on her unmade bed—another duty of Cher's that she had neglected—as well as the slender tube he'd used to apply it. Blue's eyes felt watery, yet she didn't blame Tsume for the irritation. It always felt like this whenever someone put kohl around her eyes. "I should be her first priority."

Tsume looked as if he would like to contradict her statement, yet all he said was, "Of course."

Blue felt her eyes narrow as she watched her guard tidy up the room, putting the kohl back into the cabinets at the far side of the room and picking up articles of clothing Blue had thrown around in her desire to find something suitable to wear. It wasn't every day that nobles came from other countries to form a peace treaty, and Blue knew this one in particular was going to be of supreme importance. Egypt and Sinai had been at war with one another for years, dating back to when her great-grandfather was pharaoh. Casualties were heavy on both sides, and it had only been a month since Sinai had called for a cease-fire. The meeting today was going to decide the fates of both countries, and Blue felt it was imperative that she not sully her father's name.

"You've been awfully quiet and obedient today." She commented off-handedly, examining her nails with little interest. "Did you have a rough night last night?"

The older boy straightened, arms full of different fabrics varying in colors, though most of them were blue or purple. "That depends on what you mean by rough."

"It could mean a number of things. Personally, I had a dream last night. Perhaps it's why I'm asleep on my feet."

Tsume walked towards her once more, dropping the fabrics on the bed beside her. Blue regarded the garments carefully for a moment before reaching out to grab a robe. Normally, she never raised a hand to help when Cher was folding her clothing, but Blue was always looking for ways to prove to Tsume that she was not just a spoiled brat of a princess like he claimed she was. Tsume noticed the unusual gesture and smirked. "A dream you say?" He said in regards to her previous statement. "Would you care to explain the details?"

Blue rolled her eyes, messing around with the dark blue fabric in her lap, trying to remember just how Cher went about such a tedious task. "I hardly remember it, but—"

Her companion sensed her hesitation, and perhaps the unease that coursed through her as well, and he paused, one of Blue's white tunics hanging on his arm. "Was it a Dark Dream?" Tsume asked her gently.

Blue shook her head, abandoning the pretense of folding her clothes to simply pick at the material absentmindedly. Defending her honor in front of her friend would have to wait for now. "No, Tsume, I did not have a Dark Dream." She replied, somewhat annoyed by the question. Whenever someone claimed to have had a Dark Dream, it meant they had somehow seen the means under which they would die. Blue had no intentions of dying any time soon.

"But you said you could hardly remember it. What if you did have a Dark Dream and you just can't recall it?"

"Do you want me to tell you what I dreamed or not?"

"I apologize, Young Mistress."

"It was just . . . dark." The girl said eventually, eyes narrowing in thought as she tried to recall just what had happened. Mornings after the night of the full moon always left her feeling confused for some reason. "Everywhere I looked, there was nothing. I called for Cher, for you, but no one ever came for me." That alone was enough to make her feel unease, for never had she called for anyone and they never came. "And then there was this _dreadful _scream."

Blue jerked as the fabric in her lap was taken from her, and she glanced up at Tsume in surprise. "You'll tear the seems if you keep that up." He said simply, tossing the garment into the pile on the bed. It seemed he had lost interest in folding them. "What did this scream sound like?"

"Like someone's execution was being painfully drawn out, not swift." A shiver went up the girl's spine as she recalled such a wail, how distraught and hopeless she'd felt. It wasn't a feeling she was used to experiencing, being a monarch relatively free of worry.

"I suppose we're lucky it was only a dream then."

"That's all you have to say about the matter?" Blue asked skeptically. "What if it actually was a Dark Dream? What if the scream I heard was my own?"

Tsume shrugged, seemingly unperturbed by the whole spectacle. "I think you would recognize the sound of your own voice. If it bothers you so much, we could always enlist the help of High Priest Kazim."

The icy look that was sent the older boy's way was one that usually sent the lowest palace slaves running, but of course he was immune to it by now. It was no secret that Blue didn't particularly care for her father's highest-ranking priest. She respected him for his status amongst the court, but that was about it. High Priest Kazim always spoke to and about Blue as if she were some ignorant child that had no business ruling Egypt. His words weren't as frank, for that would be considered treason, but Blue had long learned how to analyze what someone said and what they really meant by it. The only thing she trusted the man with was to perform her purification. If her mother ever allowed it, that is.

"Your sense of humor is lacking in subtlety."

"Who said I was joking?" Tsume asked, placing a hand on the back of his neck as if in thought. "But you're right, I suppose. Priests aren't particularly skilled in interpreting the dreams of detrimental royals."

Blue nodded, glad that he was seeing her point, but then realized just what he'd said. "You are one step closer to that public thrashing, Tsume."

"I am counting down the days, Young Mistress."

A knock on the door cut off whatever conversation might have been sparked from his words, though Blue sent him a look that promised further discussion. "You may enter." She called, smoothing down the white fabric of her dress slowly, trying to rid it of creases.

The door creaked open, revealing Blue's missing governess. The sight of the blonde woman pulled a feeling of relief from the princess that was quickly overrun by annoyance. "And just where in Ra's name were you?" She demanded, getting to her feet with a wave of her hand. "Do not go gallivanting around the palace when nobles are do any minute. Do you expect me to go greet them with my hair looking like _this_?"

Cher, to her credit, didn't so much as falter underneath the girl's harsh and accusatory tone. She'd taken care of her since she was an infant, after all. The royal had been screaming since the day of her birth. "I apologize, Young Mistress." The woman said briskly, reaching out to grab Blue's hand, tugging her closer. A complaint was on the edge of Blue's tongue until Cher began to pull at the pins in her hair, and she allowed herself to relax. "There was a matter that needed my attention."

"Oh? And what matter was that?"

"If I may say something." Tsume interjected, moving from his position by the bed to walk towards the door, presumably to stake out the corridors outside. What else would he be doing? "I believe some things are much too _mature _for our princess."

"Sod off, you brute." Blue snapped as he vacated the premises. "Cher, what do you think Father would say if I requested a new guard? One that actually respects me?"

Cher's lips pursed in a thin line, eyes sharp with something Blue couldn't understand as she mused with her hair, rearranging the locks into a more presentable fashion. "I do believe your father would punish Tsume for his remarks. Tis best if you stay silent."

Blue blinked in surprise and a bit in indignation, for she hadn't been serious. Requesting a new guard was simply out of the question, for no one knew her habits like Tsume, and she trusted no other. He was her best friend, and over the years—whether the older boy knew it or not—he had gained her loyalty. She liked to think that there wasn't anything she wouldn't do for him should he only ask. But something else about Cher's response sparked Blue's interest. The woman had never really sounded so sharp when addressing her before. Perhaps the matter she'd spoken of had put her in a terrible mood. _That doesn't mean she has to take it out on me, though._

"Wait, that's all?" Blue blurted out as Cher stepped back, reaching for the golden crown on the table beside the bed. It was a simply golden band, void of all fancy jewelry. It was proper for her not to show off too much wealth in the face of their enemies, lest they get too many ideas or crazy notions that Egypt was richer than it was. They were better off than the other countries, but that still didn't mean they should show it off on a regular basis. Proving to their enemies and allies that they were strong was important, but too much of a good thing had proved to be deadly in the past. "I'm just going to let my hair remain wild?"

"You hardly look wild." Cher said sternly as she settled the band on the girl's head, smoothing down the hair on either side gently. "But there is no time to fix it up. The nobles have arrived at the palace door."

All frustration melted from Blue's body at the announcement, determination and a faint sense of apprehension left in its wake. She truly was desperate to prove herself worthy of her status. If anyone were to find out about what she was . . . well, she'd need a reputation to fall back on. She and her father were not the only ones that despised wolves.

The princess nodded, hesitating for a moment as Cher exited the room. Blue eyes darted quickly to the table beside her bed, and she reached over, snatching up the golden bracelets and matching necklace. There was nothing wrong with displaying a tad bit of jewelry, was there?

Cher was gone by the time she left the room, but Tsume was still present, just as he always was. "You know I would never ask for a replacement, right?" She asked, just in case he'd heard their exchange.

To her chagrin, the only response he offered was a smirk.

Walking down the palace corridors, Blue once again let her thoughts wander to her governess. She'd never acted so distant and uncaring about her duties. If everything was right, she would've been with her on her way to greet the nobles, the rulers of Sinai. Cher had never let her face a daunting task alone. _It's all about growing up, I suppose. Cher can't hold my hand through everything. _

Blue turned to ask Tsume whether he thought the visitors would be civil or not, only to find him not at her side. She faltered, glancing around only to find that he was actually stationed _behind _her, as was proper. But since when had he ever acted proper? She turned around quickly, not wanting him to notice her wandering eye. Cher and Tsume couldn't be at her side through everything. Blue was going to need to stand on her own at some point.

Voices interrupted her thought process, and Blue folded her hands neatly in front of her as she stepped into the corridor leading to her father's throne room. "Ah, there she is now." Blue reveled in the pride that seeped through her father's voice, for it was a rare occurrence indeed. Like she'd said to her mother, she thought she never did anything to please the pharaoh, though perhaps she had been wrong. It had been quite some time since she'd seen him last, though he didn't look any different, extravagantly dressed in fine robes and jewelry. Blue wondered if perhaps she should've added more to her outfit.

"I apologize for being late, Father." She said, bowing as was expected of her, to her father as well as their guests. Aside from her father's guards, there were two faces she'd never seen before. One was most likely the king of Sinai. He was bigger than her father around the waist, thicker in almost every way. Blue would even go as far to say that the man was fat. She was confused for a heartbeat, unsure if this was truly the leader of the nation they'd spent so long fighting. The smaller of the two looked to be Tsume's age if not older, with blonde hair that matched the older man's. When he turned to look at her, she was surprised to find his eyes a bright green. That was something you hardly ever saw in Egypt.

"It is no trouble at all, my dear." The Pharaoh said pleasantly, which set Blue on edge for some reason. Her father wasn't one for obvious acts of affection. What had changed? "Lord Abhi, Prince Jamal, this is Princess Isis; my daughter."

Blue smiled pleasantly as the older man—Lord Abhi, she presumed—stepped forward and took her hand, placing a kiss upon her knuckles. Truthfully the gesture made her skin crawl, and she reminded herself to rant about it to Tsume later. "Princess Isis. I have heard a lot about you, my dear. I must say, you are much more enchanting in person."

"I appreciate your kind words, Lord Abhi." Blue replied, retracting her hand gently when he held on just a bit too long for her liking.

The man laughed, a sound rich in gusto and spit that Blue found highly inappropriate. "You have one fine gem of a daughter, Lord Darcia." Blue stiffened slightly at his words. Around here, no one dared call her father anything other than "Pharaoh." For a moment, she feared for this improper man's safety, yet her father did no more than wave a hand dismissively.

"She takes after her mother, let me assure you."

"Surely not in the looks department."

The two chatted idly, during which Blue thought she was going to die of boredom, but something caught her attention. The younger man—Prince Jamal—was staring at her. Quite openly, she might add. The intensity of his green gaze was enough to make her uncomfortable, and she took a step back subconsciously, searching for Tsume. He was at her side, just as always, a dangerous sort of look in his golden eyes as he stared at the visiting prince. Prince Jamal held his gaze for a few short moments before looking away.

"Well, then," Lord Abhi said eventually, clapping his hands, "let us get the negotiations for this union of our nations started, shall we?"

"Union?" Blue echoed, forgetting her place in her surprise. No one had said anything to her about unifying Egypt and Sinai. Hadn't this just been about a peace treaty?

Lord Abhi looked surprised, glancing over at her father with an uncertain expression on his face. The Pharaoh only nodded shortly, beckoning for all of them to join him in the throne room. "Yes, Isis. We are going to be discussing the union of our countries through your marriage with Prince Jamal."


	5. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: _So . . . I was on Tumblr the other day, and I noticed that most of the people I followed were freaking out and posting about being upset and crying about something. Turns out a girl's mom found out she liked anime and stuff and decided to force her to stop watching, blogging, and making fan art simply because it wasn't "normal." That really bothered me, 'cause I'm one of those girls and thankfully my mom tends to leave me alone about it, but I got to thinking—what if that had been me? What if my mom tried to force me to give up everything I cared about because she thought it was weird? I don't understand why parents can't let their kids do what makes them happy, so long as they're not hurting themselves. Sorry, folks, but sports don't rule the world. Writing on here and blogging on Tumblr are my scapegoats from the stresses of life, and I don't know what I'd do with myself if that was taken from me. Alright, I'm glad I got that off my chest. Sorry if it bored you, I just needed to vent somewhere. Tumblr's a pretty sad place to be at the moment.

So, the story . . . umm . . . yeah, not sure what to say about it haha. Hige shows up . . . huzzah! I love him. He's like me, but a guy. Onward!

* * *

**Chapter 4**

* * *

The sun was an important aspect of everyday life in Egypt, a symbol of hope and rebirth, but even so, Kiba had come to despise the blasted source of heat. Toboe told him he was simply being ignorant, teasing and jibing with words that accused Kiba of being too spoiled for his own good. The older boy paid his brother no mind, however, for it wasn't he who had to work in the inferno on a regular basis. The sweat Kiba could feel dripping down his neck and seeping into his clothes was enough to make his skin crawl. For a person who wasn't particularly fond of being covered in one's own filth, this was absolute torture.

It hadn't been long since the death of their grandmother and the end of their life as they'd previously known it, yet the days had managed to blur together for Kiba, who was finally beginning to understand the true meaning of the term "exhaustion." The journey from their village of Thebes to the city of Memphis had taken them most of the night and a good portion of the morning hours. It would have been longer, but they spent most of the long trek as wolves at Toboe's request. It had been odd, running around as wolves when the moon wasn't full, yet it felt freeing as well, filling Kiba with a sense of longing.

Memphis had been rather overwhelming at first, especially for Toboe who always got extremely anxious among vast groups of people. The streets had been crowded far beyond previous comprehension, forcing Kiba to keep the boy close at hand at all times.

It hadn't taken Kiba long to find work hauling sacks of grain from the stores to merchants wanting to sell them. He had accepted the position gladly, all but refusing to give his aid in the building of the Pharaoh's memorial statues. He and Toboe had seen the men and young boys, slaves and civilians struggling to get the tasks done. Just as Toboe had feared, whips had been a common feat among those working grounds, the cracking almost constant. Kiba had dragged Toboe away from the scene the first day they'd arrived in Memphis without looking back. Kiba and everyone who worked with the grain hauling earned wages of three copper coins for working a full day. It wasn't much if you were looking with a fickle mind like most of the boys Kiba heard grumbling about the pay, but he knew it would all add up in the end. Nothing in life was simply given to you, after all.

Kiba was alone for the time being, the other boys having run off for some reason or another, and he deposited the heavy sack into the cart before him before walking back into the store building to grab another. He narrowed his eyes against the glare of the sun, wishing silently for the rare rain shower to appear. Rain was an unusual spectacle, sometimes only seen once or twice a year, and while Kiba didn't necessarily like it, he would appreciate the relief the dark clouds would provide from the blazing heat of the sun.

The fifteen-year-old was abruptly slammed into from the side, forcing him to drop his bag and almost throwing him off balance. One of the older men had run into him, and with a sigh, Kiba went to pick up the grain sack once more. But then he was spun around, a large, callused hand fisting into the front of his tunic. "What, you think you can run into me and not say sorry, you little punk?" The man snarled at him heatedly.

Kiba did nothing for a moment other than stare, one eyebrow arching as he sized up the man before him. He was tall, had brown hair, and was covered in scars. He seemed like the kind of guy who had gotten into plenty of fights before. _He must not have anything better to do with himself if he's picking fights with children. _"Well, aren't you going to say anything?" The man snapped, giving Kiba a rough shake.

"Oh, lay off him, Jou." A new voice said, almost casually, and a head popped up from behind the overstocked grain cart. Kiba observed the newcomer curiously, almost forgetting the fist curled into the front of his tunic. Cheerful amber eyes and a lazy grin were the first things he noticed, followed by light brown hair that seemed to go in every direction at once, and he was only wearing a shenti; no sandals adorned his feet either. He looked no older than Kiba himself, facial features sharp yet still holding onto the roundness of a child's. The most striking aspect of this boy, in Kiba's opinion, was his obvious confidence. "He's new here. I'm sure he didn't mean to get in your way."

"Piss off, you brat." The man holding him snapped, and Kiba allowed his gaze back to his captor, eyes narrowed dangerously. He didn't have much experience when it came to fighting off older men having been surrounded by woman who ogled over his existence for most of his life, but the irritation from the sun and the stress he'd been suffering from ever since he'd led Toboe from Thebes was thinning his patience.

"I'd let go of me if I were you." Kiba said coldly.

The look on the man's face was one of rage, and for a second, Kiba thought he was going to be punched, regardless of the other boy's interference. But whatever look was present on Kiba's face was enough to make the older man pause, and after a few more moments of tense silence broken only by the sounds of the people in the streets, Kiba was released, practically thrown back into the cart the other boy was poised behind. "Next time you won't be so lucky, kid." Jou spat venomously before stalking off to where the older men were working, leaving Kiba with the notion that this wouldn't be the last time he'd have problems with Jou.

"You're a lucky bastard, you know that?" Kiba turned as the other boy addressed him, amber eyes practically oozing with amusement. "Most boys who get mixed up with Jou never escape without a broken nose."

Kiba sniffed, gazing after the man in question and observing the way he handled the deliveries with jerky movements, snapping at anyone who came too close. A feeling resembling self-satisfaction overcame the blue-eyed youth for an instant before it disappeared just as quickly. "He doesn't seem all that tough."

"I think it was that look you gave him."

"What look?"

The boy shrugged, pushing away from the cart as one of the guards walked by, eyeing the both of them dangerously, whip in hand. Kiba's companion flashed the Egyptian a bright smile before picking up a sack of grain, tossing it to Kiba, who caught it with ease. The boy looked impressed for a few seconds before nodding as the guard walked away. "Like if he didn't leave you alone you'd tear his heart right out of his chest."

Kiba stared at him, unsure of how to respond to a statement of that caliber, yet the other worker hardly seemed fazed by his silence. "You're not very social, are you?" He inquired, tilting his head. "You're looking at me like I've gone mad."

"I am questioning your mental health, yes." Kiba replied, transporting the sack he was carrying to the other cart, where the driver and his horse were beginning to grow tired of waiting.

"Well, at least you're honest." The other boy snorted, picking up another bag to hand off to Kiba. The blue-eyed boy wondered for a few seconds where this boy had come from. He couldn't recall ever seeing him in the days he'd spent in Memphis. Never had he seen such a chipper attitude amongst the children that huddled together at night in the streets. He and Toboe often stayed clear of them, of course, so he couldn't be certain. Whatever the case, this boy who had jumped to his defense was unlike anybody Kiba had ever met before. "The name's Hige, by the way."

"Kiba." He responded in kind, tossing the next bag into the cart. Just a few more left and then they'd be done until the next merchant showed up. The work itself wasn't necessarily hard—Kiba had less difficulty with the weight of the bags than probably anyone he'd seen so far—it was simply the sun that made the entire job seem nearly impossible.

"Kiba, huh?" Hige echoed, tossing the last bag into the cart and signaling to the driver that he could take his leave, which he did with a grumbled curse. The other boy made a face at the retreating merchant before turning back to Kiba. "What rock did you crawl out of?"

" . . . Excuse me?"

"Well, I haven't seen you around here before." Hige amended with a sheepish grin that reminded Kiba somewhat of his brother. "Didn't mean to sound like a jerk."

"Oh." Kiba said curtly, unsure of what to do with himself now that it was just him and Hige. The other boys were a ways down the street, haggling an elderly woman who was selling jewelry, and he knew from days of experience that they would come running once the guard stationed to their section returned. Kiba hadn't really had much experience when dealing with boys his own age. He and Toboe had been among five young boys in the entire village, and all of them had been eleven or younger. Kiba could handle adults. Adolescents? A completely different problem. "My brother and I are new here, I guess."

"Where were you from?"

"Thebes."

"You came _here _from Thebes? And you accused _me _of being mad!"

"What's so awful about this place?"

Hige gave him an incredulous look before jabbing his thumb in the direction of the palace. Kiba observed the building silently, still not used to how large the structure was. It had been huge from a distance, but being this close left an entirely new sensation. It brought upon annoyance as well at how the Pharaoh lived a life of luxury whilst the people labored and suffered under his rule. "Memphis is the Pharaoh's whore." Hige said without an ounce of shame at his vulgarity. Kiba mentally reminded himself never to let this boy be around Toboe. "He wants something, we supply it; no questions asked."

"Wouldn't you want to serve the ruler of our land?"

"Don't tell me you believe in that rubbish. I actually kind of liked you."

"I haven't been a believer since the day my parents were killed." Kiba hadn't given the words much thought, though the second they were out of his mouth, he knew it was the wrong thing to say. He still wasn't used to being around those who didn't know about his parents' murders.

But Hige didn't give him the reaction he was expecting. Instead of offering his condolences, the other boy actually grinned. "I knew you were smart."

And that was the end of the conversation. Not of their own doing—truthfully, Kiba was quite interested in this boy who'd seemingly appeared out of nowhere—but something else, something much more important caught his attention.

A group of shouting boys was making their way down the street, the same ones that had previously been at the jewelry stand that should've been working. Four of them rushed past Kiba and Hige in a flurry of excitement, and while Kiba looked on in bewilderment, Hige snagged the boy who was lagging behind by the arm. "Hey, what's the rush?" He asked, chuckling lightly. "You do know hell-fire will rain down upon your heads should the guard come back before you guys do, right?"

"Didn't you see that dog?" The boy asked breathlessly, squirming in Hige's hold in an effort to catch up with his friends. "It had the coolest bracelet on. We could haggle it for more money, Hige!"

Kiba's mind froze the moment the word "bracelet" was uttered. It couldn't be though. Toboe had promised to stay out of sight while he was gone, and he most _certainly _wouldn't be running around as a wolf without Kiba at his side. But Toboe had grown comfortable in his wolf form in the days they'd been in Memphis. When Kiba was finished working, the two would often prowl the streets as wolves, because the inhabitants thought they were dogs. Even the palace guards were fooled. But the peace had fogged over Kiba's view of the bigger picture, and now he was paying the price.

"Hey, where are you going?" Hige called as Kiba took off down the street, tracking the boys to the best of his ability what with all the conflicting scents and sounds.

It was difficult amongst the throng of people in the streets, all packed together so tightly one couldn't even turn around without touching someone else. It didn't help that Kiba had no regard for any of them as he pushed past, making them drop things, causing people to stumble. They yelled at him for it, sure, but it was all in the background. He'd seen how these kids treated animals, throwing rocks at defenseless dogs suffering from starvation. And those animals hadn't been doing anything. What would they do to Toboe, who was in possession of something they wanted?

When Kiba rounded the corner, where the scent was strongest and the sound of hollering boys could be heard, he froze instantly. His presence went unnoticed for some time, though it was probably for the best, and for a moment, all he could do was stare. The brown wolf that he knew was his younger brother was backed against a wall, fangs bared in warning as his pursuers poked and prodded at him. But even if the young wolf looked vicious, his tail was tucked firmly between his legs, and he was trembling. He wouldn't attack, being too soft-hearted for such a thing, but he wasn't going to allow what had belonged to their grandmother to be taken without a fight. The bag containing their money and the scroll was looped around Toboe's neck, the weight of the bag resting on his back, and it was evident the boys were trying to confiscate that as well.

As the boys began to pick up stones to throw, Kiba finally came back to himself. But with awareness came rage. How dare these boys threaten his brother? Had they no manners, no sense of humanity? A growl was working its way up Kiba's throat when a hand landed rather roughly on his shoulder. Kiba jerked, snapping his head around to see who it was that had touched him.

The look Hige was giving him confused Kiba to no end, and the feeling only increased when the other boy shook his head sharply, pulling his hand away. "Hey, knock it off." Hige snapped, striding forward to grab one of the boys by the ends of his long, black hair, yanking back until he cried out in pain. "Leave the poor thing alone."

"Kiba." Toboe said, relief evident in his voice as he allowed his body to relax, safe in the knowledge that his brother was there to protect him. "Thank goodness you came."

"He's my dog." Kiba said coldly, glaring at the boy closest to Toboe, the one wielding the largest and sharpest of the stones.

With a wince, the boy dropped it.

"Look, we didn't know." The black-haired boy who was currently on the receiving end of Hige's temper said pathetically. "If it wasn't your dog, wouldn't you try to do the same thing? I mean . . . we gotta do what we can to survive, right?"

"I'd work my way out of the slums instead of picking on defenseless puppies." Hige said, releasing the boy's hair with a roll of his eyes. "And thanks to your stupidity all of us aren't getting our wages for the day."

"We're sorry, Hige—"

"Don't apologize to me." Hige glanced over at Kiba, who had remained in the same spot for the entirety of the exchange. The blue-eyed boy was still struggling to control his anger at seeing his brother so trapped, so defenseless even if he had the advantage of teeth and claws. "Say you're sorry to Kiba."

"Sorry, Kiba."

"And to his dog."

Toboe's eyes were shining as the boys who only moments ago had been chasing him muttered their apologies, and his tail twitched slowly, as if the wolf were debating whether or not to express his pleasure of how quickly the tides had turned. Kiba was glad Toboe could forgive so easily, because he surely couldn't. "Now get out of here." Hige said, giving the black-haired boy a gentle shove. "Salvage whatever you can of your jobs. And no more attacking animals, or next time I'll be the one chasing you morons with stones."

The boys kept their eyes downcast as they brushed past Kiba, hurrying out of the vacant side street without looking back. Kiba released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, fixing Toboe with an ice blue glare that promised they would be discussing this later. "Thanks for your help." He said to Hige, who had made his way over to Toboe and crouched down beside him, giving his head a pat. Toboe eyed him carefully, glancing over at Kiba, who nodded at his brother, silently conveying that the boy was no enemy. With a twitch of his ear, Toboe accepted the message and the attention he was receiving from Hige.

"Don't mention it." Hige said, throwing Kiba a smile as he moved closer. "Us whores gotta stick together, right?"

"Whores?" Toboe echoed, glancing up at Kiba, who winced at the reminder of his earlier promise. "Kiba, what kind of people are you hanging around?"

"Street wise people." Both brothers stiffened as Hige spoke, glancing down at Toboe with that same, odd grin on his face. Kiba's eyes widened, for Hige had answered Toboe's question. Had he heard the wolf speaking? "I'm assuming you're Kiba's brother, right?" Hige continued, still rubbing Toboe's ears as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "Pleased to meet you, kid. I'm Hige."

Toboe stared, stunned, jaws literally agape in his shock. "What—"

"What are you?" Kiba interrupted, stepping forward quickly and extending a hand to Toboe, urging him to come closer. Hige let Toboe go without comment, watching in amusement as the smaller wolf scampered over to hide behind his older brother. "A Seer? A magician? A demon?"

"Nope." Hige said, standing tall once more. "Just a wolf."

"This is no time for your mind games."

Hige laughed, reaching up to rub the back of his head. "Sheesh, Kiba, you really are paranoid, aren't you? What, you don't recognize a fellow wolf when you see one?"

Kiba stared at the other hard, unable to believe that he had missed something that should have been obvious to him. But really, Hige had done nothing to hint that he was more than just a normal human working for his survival in the streets of Memphis. _Still. I should have known better. _"You smell like a wet dog." Toboe said timidly from behind Kiba's legs. "Kiba and I don't."

A look of annoyance crossed Hige's face. "Well, when you've worked out in the sun for as long as I have, you tend to take on a different scent, runt."

"I'm not a runt!" Toboe said indignantly, lowering his head in what was probably supposed to be an intimidating gesture. "My name's Toboe."

"Howling." Hige said after a moment, nodding slightly. "Fitting, I suppose, unless you don't want to be obvious about what you are."

"I'd ask you to prove what you're claiming," Kiba said, "but seeing as we're out in public I don't wish for you to be exposed. I guess you being able to understand what my brother is saying is proof enough."

Hige grinned as if Kiba's admission was the greatest news he'd ever heard. The three of them said nothing for some time, and while he didn't know about the other two, Kiba was lost in a thought so disturbing he had to fight the urge to take Toboe and run. Hige might have been a wolf, but who was to say that he wouldn't turn them in to the Pharaoh's officials? Rewards were high for those who reported and presented wolves, dead or alive. Was Hige just as desperate for money as the boys who attacked Toboe had been? The secret he'd harbored since his youth had been exposed to a boy he had just met. His and Toboe's futures were in jeopardy, and he would put an end to the threat if need be.

But whether such measures were needed was completely up to Hige.

As if sensing Kiba's thoughts, Hige fixed him with an incredulous look. "Don't look at me like that, man. I have no plans to turn you and the runt in, if that's what you're worried about."

"I told you, my name's—"

"Why should I believe you?" Kiba asked, reaching down to touch the tip of Toboe's ear, effectively silencing him. "I don't want to believe you'll betray us, but we hardly know each other, Hige. Loyalty between strangers isn't something I've had positive experience with."

"Well, why don't you just take my heart and put it at the stake." Hige said, heaving a huge sigh. "Do you honestly think I'd send my fellow Messengers to be slaughtered?"

Kiba felt Toboe stiffen, and even he had problems keeping his breathing level at Hige's proclamation. Nobody had ever referred to wolves as "Messengers" except for their grandmother. She'd said it wasn't common knowledge, that the title had been revoked the night of the massacre. It was the first time he'd ever heard someone outside his family use it.

"Okay." Kiba said. "I believe you."

"Do you have to go back to work?" Toboe asked quietly, diverging from the previous conversation completely, staring up at Kiba with wide, brown eyes. For the first time, Kiva considered the fact that his brother was still spooked by what had happened to him. It was bad enough he wasn't comfortable amongst the giant throngs of people in the streets. Being chased by them had probably brought his anxiety to different levels. Kiba didn't want to leave him alone any more than Toboe wanted to be alone.

"I've got an idea." Hige exclaimed before Kiba could respond to Toboe' inquiry. "Why don't you guys come live with me?"

Trusting a stranger was one thing, but _living _with a stranger? "You don't live on the streets like us?" Toboe asked curiously, and the statement was like a punch straight to Kiba's gut.

Hige seemed to notice too, for he was quick to keep the conversation moving at a brisk pace. "Leaving Toboe alone while you're working isn't a good idea, Kiba. Things like this happen a lot around here, and next time it might not be a group of kids with only stones as weapons." Kiba only nodded stiffly, mind drifting to Jou. What would Toboe do should he be faced with older men such as that? "I think you guys would be safer off the streets." Hige continued, and the amber eyes that had remained bright since the moment they'd met suddenly darkened, and a frown tugged at the boy's lips. "You don't know how things work yet. Living in the city is hard enough as it is, but considering what we are . . . it's significantly worse."

Kiba really had no idea what Hige was talking about. Memphis hadn't seemed any different than Thebes, but then again, he and Toboe had only been there for a few days. Something about the expression on Hige's face told Kiba that they had yet to experience just what life outside the palace walls was like. "What do you think, Toboe?" Kiba sighed eventually, glancing down at his brother.

The brown wolf in question jumped slightly, as if he hadn't expected to be addressed, and then shook his head. "I'll do whatever you want to do, Kiba."

_Well, that helped. _Being the one to decide their moves all the time wasn't a job Kiba took very lightly, and most of the time he was comforted by the knowledge that he had been able to handle everything so well. Toboe was aware of that, and trusted Kiba to know what he was doing, but sometimes the elder of the brothers wished Toboe would voice his opinion more. "Okay." Kiba decided, turning his attention back to Hige, who was awaiting an answer. "We'll stay with you. For now."

"Great!" Hige exclaimed, the dark look disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared. "This should be fun. I'll teach you how to not be so awkward if you want, Kiba."

Toboe giggled as Kiba glared at the other boy, a sharp retort on the tip of his tongue, but Hige held up a hand, silencing any comment long before it was voiced. "We should get going. I'm just going to assume we're not going back to work today. Come on, I don't live far from here."

"Do the guards here check to make sure you're in bed like they did back home in Thebes?" Toboe asked curiously, moving out from behind Kiba and following after Hige as he turned and began to walk down the vacant street, beckoning to them.

"Yeah. But not where I live."

"Why not?"

"'Cause my dad's the soldier assigned to our street."

Kiba glanced over at Hige as they walked, examining the other boy's expression. Earlier, it had become apparent to him that Hige didn't hold the Pharaoh or his men in high regard. Did his father's occupation have anything to do with it? "Your father's a guard for the Pharaoh?" Toboe gasped, faltering in his stride for a second before scrambling to be beside Kiba once more. "But . . . you're a wolf."

"And?" Hige asked dryly, glancing down at the young wolf.

Toboe's ears flattened against his head slightly before he glanced around, pushing himself onto two legs and adjusting the bag so it was hanging off one shoulder. Kiba refrained from chastising the boy for changing in such a public place, mostly because there really was no one around to see. For now, he would let it slide, but being this close to the palace meant they couldn't take unnecessary risks.

Hige's home actually didn't look much different from their old one, save the fact that it didn't have a second story. When they walked in, Kiba observed that there was a single bed near the wall on the far side, a wooden table with four chairs, and a stove by the wall opposite the bed. The rest of the space was taken up by a giant rug in the middle of the floor, and off to the side was a pile of bones, some even had bits of meat left on them. Hige noticed Kiba's wandering eye and grinned sheepishly. "I'm not necessarily the tidiest of guys."

"Neither is Toboe." Kiba commented as his brother tossed the leather bag on the floor before flopping down on the bed with a relieved sigh. Toboe had truly hated sleeping out in the streets at night, subject to the raves of drunken older men and chattering kids that refused to fall asleep. No sound went unheard by them, and neither had fully gotten a good night's sleep since they got to Memphis.

"Then we'll get along just fine." Hige said, and when Kiba went to glance at the other, it was only to see a wolf that probably rivaled him in size. The wolf stretched before moving forward to lay down on the rug with a sigh just like the one Toboe had emitted. The twelve-year-old watched the wolf through half-lidded eyes, and Kiba knew the boy was only moments away from sleep. It was probably for the best anyway. Kiba had a few questions he needed to ask Hige.

"Is that safe?" Toboe asked. "I mean, what if someone walks by and sees you through the window?"

Hige rolled over onto his back, glancing at said window over Kiba's shoulder. "Oh, yeah. Could you close the curtain?" Kiba did. "There. Problem solved. This is my house. I'll do what I want."

Toboe laughed, and after a few moments, changed into a wolf himself, stretching out across the bed and resting his head on his paws, brown eyes slipping closed. Watching the two be so relaxed in their wolf forms made Kiba nervous for reasons he couldn't understand. It wasn't like anyone could see them now that he'd closed the curtain above the window. _We're safe here. _But he didn't fully believe it. Not yet.

Still, Kiba shed his human skin just as the other two had done, padding across the floor to sit next to Hige on the rug. The light brown wolf took in Kiba's form curiously, blinking against the blinding sort of light that Kiba's white fur radiated. "How'd you know about what I was?" Kiba asked quietly, eyeing his brother's still form. The boy's breathing was slow and even, indicating that he was indeed asleep, just as Kiba had predicted.

"It was how you handled Jou." Hige replied. "I've never seen that before. Most boys are crying the minute he sets his sights on them, but you didn't even flinch."

"Really?" Kiba asked incredulously. "I find it hard to believe that you realized I was a wolf just because I have a backbone."

Hige chuckled, pushing himself into a sitting position to scratch vigorously at his ear with his hind leg. "Well, if you really must know, it was actually your eyes that tipped me off. It's probably what made Jou back off too. When you looked at him, they sort of sharpened. Flecks of yellow started to appear. Your wolf eyes are yellow."

"I still don't see—"

"My father told me once that humans who can turn into Messengers have a tendency to let their instincts run wild sometimes." Hige said, suddenly serious. "Jou was in your territory, in your space, and your instincts kicked in, because you knew he was lesser than you."

"How was he lesser than I am?"

Hige's tail swished back and forth across the ground. "All normal humans are lesser than us."

Kiba said nothing, for that wasn't exactly how he viewed others that couldn't turn into wolves. His grandmother had taught him to never take advantage of the weak and lowly, of those he knew he could overpower. _It's moments like these when I miss her most. _"Won't your father be upset when he comes back to find two extra tenants?"

Hige shook his broad head, jaws opening in a long yawn before he replied. "My dad doesn't live here. He's part of the militia, and since the war with Sinai's been postponed for who knows how long, he's back for an undefined amount of time. But they made him be a guard in the meantime. He lives in the palace for the time being."

"Does he know about—" Kiba trailed off, knowing that Hige understand what he was trying to say.

"Well, yeah." The bigger wolf snorted. "He knows I'm a wolf. My mother was one too. It's why he joined the militia. To protect us."

"If you don't mind my asking, where is your mother?"

"She was killed in the massacre."

Silence greeted the announcement for a few moments before Kiba began to growl, lips curling back into a small snarl. "Hey, man, there's no need to get upset." Hige said quickly, one ear twitching uncomfortably. "I was only a few weeks old when it happened. I don't even remember her."

"That's what pisses me off." Kiba seethed, tail lashing angrily behind him. Too many lives had been ruined that night fifteen years ago. And for what? The answer had eluded Kiba for years now, the reasoning behind the Pharaoh's decision to wipe out the wolves. "No one should be able to say they can't remember their own mother."

"Well, take it up with the Pharaoh." Hige sighed, sliding onto his stomach once more, bending his head to lap lazily at the fur on his chest. Kiba watched, the urge to do the same to his own fur washing over him like a tidal wave. He felt disgusting, his fur somewhat sticky and damp even if he couldn't sweat in this form. "Just take it easy, Kiba." Hige said as Kiba set to work on cleaning his fur. "My dad will make sure we aren't discovered. But even so, you'll need work on blending in with society."

"I think I've done pretty well for myself in the past fifteen years."

"I never said you weren't doing a good job, just that you need work." If he were able, the other boy would've been flashing that brilliant grin, of that Kiba was certain. "But don't worry. I'll teach you and Toboe how to hide right underneath the Pharaoh's nose."

* * *

Life in the palace had taken a terrible turn.

It was no secret, really, that everyone seemed to be out of sorts now that the king and prince of Sinai had taken a somewhat permanent residence within the walls. There wasn't a soul that wasn't aware of how the halls had come to be so silent, void of unnecessary movement. And in the middle of it all, a princess sat alone in her room, just as she'd done every day for the past five days.

Blue stood alone on her balcony, leaning against the rail as she watched the happenings of the city outside the palace gates through dull, sapphire eyes. It was her only source of entertainment these days since she refused to leave her chamber. The shock that had overcome her when her father announced her marriage with Prince Jamal had gone, replaced by feelings of grief and despair. How could he do this to her? The queen herself had even told him that their daughter didn't wish to be married off any time soon, and yet he'd gone and arranged the whole affair anyway. The knowledge that she had been betrayed was enough to bring tears to the young monarch's eyes, though she couldn't say she was very surprised. The Pharaoh had never particularly cared about following the wishes of others. She'd known something had been odd about his behavior before the announcement.

But the girl also feared for her own future. When her father had told her about the union, she hadn't reacted immediately. Torn between her duties as the Princess of Egypt and her own desires as a human being, she'd only nodded dumbly and preceded to enter the throne room with Tsume at her side. Whatever had been discussed was lost to her, for she couldn't recall much aside from bursting into pathetic sobs halfway through the meeting. Her guard had escorted her from the room, away from the enraged eyes of her father, the bewildered ones of Lord Abhi, and the sympathetic gaze of her fiancé.

_Fiancé. _Just the notion alone was enough to send a shiver down Blue's spine. Thirteen years old and already wedded off to some stranger. How had her near perfect life come to this? No one had tried to enter her room aside from Cher and a few of the others servants. The only time she allowed them even a step into her chambers was if they brought food. She hadn't seen or heard from Tsume since he'd returned her to her room five days ago, and she couldn't help but admit that she missed her friend. She wanted to talk to someone about this mess, but couldn't bring herself to do so. It was all too humiliating. She'd _cried _in the face of her father, of complete and utter strangers! She'd shamed herself as well as the house of her father. It was the other reason why she never left her room. She feared punishment.

A warm, dry wind bore down on the distraught girl, whipping strands of her hair this way and that, stinging her already irritated eyes. She could only imagine how revolting she looked. She hadn't washed in days, hadn't so much as done anything but sleep and wallow in her own misery. What else could she do?

Blue dimly heard the sound of her door being opened and closed softly, and misery quickly gave way to anger before switching back again. She was too exhausted to be angry. "I wish to be left alone, Cher." The girl called within moving from her position by the railing. She could only assume it was her governess coming to try and coax her into leaving her room again.

"From what I've been hearing, you've had plenty of time to be alone these past days, Isis."

Blue jumped, spinning around to find that it was not her governess that had disturbed her, but her own mother. It was rare to see the queen out of bed, let alone out of her chambers, so for a few brief moments, the young royal could do nothing but stare and shake, fearing that the punishment she had feared was about to bare down upon her. But why send her mother? The older woman was as pale and sickly-looking as always, and it made Blue physically ill to think about how frail her mother must look underneath her extravagant robes of purple and white.

"Mother." She said lowly, bowing her head in an attempt to look shameful. For her tears? For her actions in front of the rulers of Sinai? Blue wasn't even sure anymore. "What are you doing out of bed?"

The queen moved closer, reaching a hand out to her daughter in some gesture of comfort. After a few moments of hesitation, Blue took it. "Cher came to me." The woman explained. "She fears for your health, Blue, and now that I have seen you for myself, as do I."

Blue huffed, glaring angrily at the floor as she struggled to keep her emotions under control. It was completely unbefitting of a princess to lose control just as she was doing. "There is no need to worry, for I am—"

She paused, for she couldn't think of an acceptable response. Was she fine? Scared? Angry? She'd felt so confused over the past few days, her emotions a complete and utter mess, and Blue knew she hadn't a prayer of figuring out just what was keeping her confined within her own bedroom. "Mother, he—he's wedding me off." She whispered in horror, as if finally realizing what was going on.

She was going to be married off to some stranger, someone who knew nothing of her habits, her fears, or of her family. He was going to take her from her home, force her to bear his children, make her rule a nation that wasn't her own. _Oh, Ra. _

Queen Hamona pulled the girl close as she began to weep on the spot, smoothing down her unkempt hair in a soothing manner. Blue couldn't bring herself to care as she clung to her mother in the wake of utter despair that overcame her, a feeling much stronger than the ones that had induced the fit she'd had in the throne room five days ago. Her worst fear had been realized.

Isis Darcia, princess of Egypt, was to be married at the age of thirteen.

"I am so sorry, my daughter." Her mother murmured softly, guiding the girl over to her bed and urging her to sit down. "It was my belief your father had given up on the idea of you getting married for a few more years to come."

"Mother, I don't know what to do!" Blue wailed, releasing her intense hold on her mother's middle to bury her face in her hands instead. "I know nothing of Prince Jamal, and Father said we are to be married at the beginning of the harvest. That is only a few weeks away!"

"You know nothing because you haven't gotten the chance to get to know the man, Blue."

"I do not wish to know him! I refuse."

"I know you are upset, Blue, but this is unbecoming of you."

Blue jerked, lifting her head to stare at her mother in horror, more tears threatening to spill over. It was one thing to think that about yourself, but to hear it from someone who meant so much to you was a completely different story. Being the best princess possible was the most important thing to the young girl, a goal she strived so hard to achieve. Hearing that her current situation was just as atrocious as her acts in the throne room five days ago crushed her in ways the announcement of her betrothal hadn't.

Her mother reached forward and cupped Blue's cheek, offering her a smile of sympathy as she wiped away the furious tears. "I am just as upset about what is happening as you are, my dear, but sometimes we have to look beyond what we want to do what is best."

"How will anything good come of this?" Blue demanded weakly, slightly angry that her mother wasn't seeing the wrong in her situation.

"You will stop a war that has lasted for many years."

_Oh. _She had completely forgotten about the war that had taken so many of her subject's lives in her grief. Another wave of guilt washed over her, for once again, she'd failed in her duties as a princess. "Don't assume I do not know what you are going through." Her mother continued briskly. "The same thing happened to me when I was your age."

Blue blinked, staring at her mother in shock. "You didn't want to marry Father? But he's the pharaoh!"

The older woman smiled ruefully, a certain gleam appearing in her violet eyes. "When you're young, titles do not matter. But it was not I who was being forced into a marriage with your father. It was my sister, Lady Jaguara."

Blue had met her mother's older sister only a few times before, but she had been really young then, so she hardly remembered anything aside from getting the two confused. They looked so much alike. Her aunt was now the ruler of Bernike, a queen without a king at her side, and Blue yearned for a life of that caliber. She could be a ruler without a man beside her. "Aunt Jaguara?" Blue echoed. "But if she was supposed to marry the pharaoh, then what—"

"Bernike is a small kingdom compared to Egypt, and my parents were looking for means to unite the two countries. When the previous pharaoh, your grandfather, visited Bernike with your father in tow, they decided a marriage was in order. I was only eleven at the time, Jaguara was fourteen, and they decided she would be best suited to marry your father and become the next queen of Egypt. But your father showed more interest in me than my sister. I, however, wanted nothing to do with the sixteen-year-old prince."

"Truly?" Blue breathed, leaning in as her mother paused. Perhaps she had been too harsh in her musings. Maybe her mother understood her after all. But if she had been forced into a marriage she didn't want, did that mean her parents weren't really in a stable partnership?

The woman nodded. "Truly. Your father wouldn't give up though. He tried to court me without anyone noticing. I was too annoyed by the entire spectacle to say anything to anybody, because I thought nothing was to come of his attempts."

"How scandalous."

Her mother laughed, though Blue could see how the action made the woman's body tremble, not just from the force of it. Once again, she was plagued with a worry for her mother's well being, but she continued to speak before Blue got the chance to voice her opinion. "Eventually your father grew tired of hiding the fact that he wanted me to be his queen, not my sister. He told them all right in front of me. My mother had an issue with our age difference, Jaguara was furious that her fiancé wanted her younger sister, but my father had no qualms with it as long as we waited until I had come of age. I felt the same way about my engagement with your father as you do yours with Prince Jamal. I knew nothing about him, but I only wanted to do what was best for Bernike. So, I allowed him to continue courting me, and eventually I fell in love with him."

"What did Aunt Jaguara think?"

"Well," her mother sighed, looking thoughtful, "my sister truly had no wish to marry the pharaoh's son, but the knowledge that I had gained his affection instead of her made her seethe with jealousy. She bears no grudge against us now and is quite happy with how things turned out, all things considered. She embraced our union with open arms once her feelings of betrayal passed."

Blue nodded, but couldn't help but wonder if her aunt still harbored ill will towards them for how things turned out. They rarely heard from the Queen of Bernike, but perhaps she was only busy running her country. Blue hoped it was the truth. She so hated confrontation. "So, you're insinuating that I should stop wallowing in self-pity and try to get to know Prince Jamal better?" She asked reluctantly, fiddling her hands together in her lap.

"I can only ask that you give the man a chance."

"Man." Blue echoed, feeling sick. "How old is he exactly?"

"Cher told me he is seventeen. I apologize if I made you fear he was older." Violet eyes darkened considerably. "Let me assure you; if he were any older, this marriage would not be happening."

_Damn. Only one measly year and this wouldn't be a problem. _"What if I take issue with his age?"

The look her mother gave her was stern. "Isis, please. It will be as if you're marrying Tsume."

Blue cringed, sticking her tongue out in distaste, earning a light laugh from her companion. Tsume was her best friend and confident, yes, but _marrying _him? She would rather be bound to her best friend than a stranger though. "He misses you." Her mother said eventually. "He won't say so, but he has spent much time in my company these past couple of days, and he frets just as much as Cher does, if not more."

"I miss him too." Blue muttered unhappily, shifting her gaze out towards the balcony, out towards the sky rapidly darkening with the night. She and Tsume would often sit out on the balcony and watch as the sun set beyond the dunes, observing the small figures milling about in the streets in the city from afar. If there was anything she missed in the midst of her solitude, it was that. "Which I suppose is just as scandalous as Father courting you when he already had a fiancé. I shouldn't want the company of another when I'm betrothed, right?"

"Things will have to change in the course of the next few weeks." Her mother said softly, gently forcing her daughter's head to the side so they were looking directly at each other once more. "But Tsume will always be your friend, Blue."

"I'll have to go live in Sinai though. Tsume can't—He _won't_ be allowed to accompany me." The thought alone was painful enough that Blue started sniffling once more. "What will I do without him?"

The other woman said nothing, and Blue took the silence as a confirmation. Nothing her mother said would take away the pain of being forced away from her family and only friend, and it would be up to her to deal with it alone.

For the first time in her life, Blue felt utterly hopeless.

"I'll try to get to know him better." She whispered despite her inner turmoil. "I owe it to my people."

When she glanced at her mother, the sickly woman actually looked sad, which confused the young royal. Shouldn't her mother be proud that she was sacrificing so much for the sake of her subjects? Wasn't that what she herself had done in regards to marrying the pharaoh? "I'm sorry I yelled at you." The girl said abruptly. Her time with her mother was running out, and she didn't want any rifts between them when she left. "I shouldn't have said such awful things."

"You only spoke from your heart." Her mother replied, but she didn't sound very thrilled about it. "I can not blame you for how you think."

Something about the comment didn't sound right to Blue, but she decided to ignore it for now. There were other matters that demanded her attention. Like her need of a bath.

"Could you please send for Cher? I wish to clean myself up a bit."

Her mother nodded, leaning forward to kiss her daughter's forehead. "Everything will be alright, Blue. You'll see."

The girl nodded solemnly as her mother left the room, though her outlook on the situation didn't seem any less bleak.

Was a girl even supposed to dread the day she was to be married?

* * *

The only sound to be heard in the palace dungeon was the squeaking of rodents.

The creatures—who over the generations had learned never to venture out when humans were about—had been drawn out by an odor, one so fowl it could be mistaken for rotting flesh, which was the only sustenance such creatures could find in the bowels of the palace. With a squeak, one scurried across the floor of the only occupied cell in the entire dungeon, pausing when a pale, shaky hand reached out from the shadows, fresh and dried blood dusting the fingertips. Crimson eyes watched, half-lidded, as the rat moved forward slowly, cautiously, sniffing at the bottoms of blood-stained feet, red and raw from days upon days of mistreatment, before finally moving on to the offered hand. Another hand, just as abused as the first, reached out to gently scoop up the rodent, delighting in the way the pink nose twitched furiously in curiosity.

"You are the first one This One has seen in many a day." A voice, so small and hoarse from screaming for hours on end, spoke. The rat's whiskers twitched, almost in acknowledgement.

"You have been here for too long." The rat said, turning in circles in the palm of the hand cradling it so tenderly. "We watch you, listen to you cry. What have you done to upset the men?"

The slightly trembling hand stroked the rat's back gently, relishing in the feel of another heartbeat after being subjected to the solitude of the shadows for so long. A Seer was not used to such darkness, being able to see anything and everything, though for once everything was in a fog. There was nothing. Nothing except the visions of the white wolf, the light in the darkness, the absolute salvation. The Seer knew this much, even if she did not know just whom the white wolf of her visions was, or whether he would save her from this place.

"This One has something they desire." The girl replied, bringing the rat close to her chest. "But she will not give it to them. It is not theirs to have."

"The men will take what they want." The rat replied, beady red eyes boring into large ones of equal color. "It is the way it has always been and always will be. Who are you, Girl of the Moon, to change that?"

A bang resounded through the desolate dungeon, followed by footsteps, slow and heavy, menacing. The girl shivered with the knowledge of what was about to occur, already able to feel the sting of the whip upon her back. "Go away from here." She whispered, setting the rat down once more. "This One does not wish to see you suffer."

With one last glance, the rodent was gone, disappearing amongst the many cracks in the walls, home to her many children. The Seer could hear their cries in the night, the wails of hungry bellies. She would give anything to stop the suffering, but here in her cell, shackled to the wall by her ankles, she was powerless. Her mind, a gift bestowed upon her by Khonsu, would not help her here.

"Was that your voice I heard, little one?" A voice as smooth as honey, yet as rough as the skin of a river gator broke the silence, sending a violent tremor through the girl's frail body. "Have you finally found your wits and are breaking your vow of silence?"

There was no response, though it was nothing new. Not once had anyone heard the young Seer speak. Her pain-filled screams filled the corridors at night, but never had the sweet bell-like sound of her laugh and voice been heard by anyone save the rats. The shadows parted, revealing the tall, intimidating form of the Pharaoh of Egypt, the ruler of the Land of the Nile. Crimson eyes scanned his form, searching for the whip. The coils were always stained red with her blood, spreading infection when it cracked down upon her come the next day. If he hadn't brought the means of her torture, why had he come?

The iron gate shrieked as it was forced open, and the girl pressed herself harder against the wall, trying to escape the piercing blue eyes of the man she had so come to fear. But she would not show it. Never.

The man moved closer, crisp blue robes dragging along the bloodstained cobblestone floor. He knelt down before her, a tender smile on his face. She stared straight back at him, unconvinced. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a gleam. _Knife. _The king pulled the dagger out of its sheathe, fiddling with the weapon in plain view of the girl chained to the wall. "You know, this could all be a thing of the past if you so choose, my little Seer." Again, he used _that _voice. The one that could convince a mother to slay her own child. "I do not wish to harm you. I only want your guidance, your trust. Will you grant me that, little one?"

Again, the girl said nothing. A soft chuckle, and the knife was being dragged across the sunken skin on the girl's face lightly, the tip brushing the bottom of her eye. She didn't even blink. "How about your name? We've known each other for weeks now, little one, and I haven't a clue of your identity."

"This One's name is no concern of yours."

"Ah." The man said, smiling once more. "She speaks. Your voice is lovely, little one. But your manner of speaking is unusual. Of what origin are you?"

The girl said nothing, and a look resembling annoyance flashed across the man's face for a split second. His patience was rather thin this night, it seemed. "Why can we not help each other?" The Pharaoh pressed, running the hand not gripping tightly at the knife through course pink hair, stiff with dried blood. "Your suffering would end if you only give me what it is I seek."

"This One would never help the likes of you." The Seer said, indifferent to the harsh press of the blade against her throat. The Pharaoh would injure her yes, but he would never kill her. She had something he wanted, and would always be in possession of it. Killing her would mean losing what he sought, and then his plans would be foiled. The girl could survive the torture if she knew he would never achieve his goal. "She is loyal to the will of the gods. You, Pharaoh, are not a man in their graces."

"Are the _gods _protecting you from this blade?" Demeanor changing, the man was practically spitting on her as he spoke, anger radiating from his very being. "Have they tried once to save you from me? Speak, little one, let me hear your voice."

"The gods do not interfere in matters as trivial as this. There is more at work here, Pharaoh. This One is a piece in a game, a pawn to be used for their desires. If it is their wish for This One to be here, with you, then This One will stay."

"I do not see your reasoning." The Pharaoh sighed, tapping the blade against the Seer's cheek impatiently. "You say the gods use you as a pawn, and yet you are still loyal. We could have been great together, little one. Egypt would be unstoppable with you at my side."

The girl opened her mouth to reply, to say that Egypt would be unstoppable if only the salvation would appear, but stopped. As if something had come over her, the girl gasped, pupils widening as she stared at a spot over the Pharaoh's shoulder. "They will come. They who own the night. The wolves will fight, tooth and nail, Fang and Claw, and he who kills, he who lies, he will die." She droned in a voice so unlike the soft, childlike tone the Pharaoh had only just heard.

"What nonsense do you speak?" The Pharaoh snarled, fisting the girl's hair and slamming her head against the wall. But she didn't stop.

"He will come. He who owns the night. He will fight. He will rule. The night, the day, the Land of the Nile." The girl was caught in a vision not of her own making, a story unfolding before her that the gods themselves had chosen to share. She was their vessel, just as she'd said. She was their voice. "Father!" She bellowed suddenly, making the Pharaoh recoil. "You will pay for taking everything I hold dear from me, of this I swear. In the name of my mother the queen, and in the name of the life ripped from my grasp, I will kill you!"

The girl broke off with a cry, jerking away as the Pharaoh slashed at her face with the dagger, slicing open the skin on her right cheek. "Silence, wench!" The man snarled, standing as the girl hugged her knees to her chest, sobbing in what little shelter her body provided. "I will not hear of this nonsense again. Speak not of the cursed wolves, or I will split your tongue."

And with that he was gone with a slam of the gate, leaving the distraught Seer alone in the cell stained with her own filth. She cried and cried until she could cry no more, dizzy from blood loss and the nausea that always overcame her when plagued with such harsh visions. In truth, she had seen nothing. But what she'd heard, what she'd _felt_ . . . no words could begin to describe just what it was the girl had experienced. She'd felt the anguish like it was her own, the pain of the fight, and the despair at losing _everything. _Even the pain she felt from the cut on her cheek couldn't compare. Her heart reached out to whomever it was the gods were trying to tell her about, wondering if it had anything to do with her salvation, the white wolf from her dreams. And oh how she prayed that it was not. The warm blue eyes that got her through her terrifying nights in the dungeon didn't deserve to face such horrors, to feel whatever it was she had felt in her Vision.

She did not wish for her salvation to lose everything he cared for.


	6. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: _I'm so sorry this took so long to get out. School's been kicking my butt, and I just got a new puppy that demands to be entertained. And she needs to be potty-trained. Apparently that falls in my category of expertise. I'll try my best to find some time to update more frequently! And thanks to everyone that reviewed during my absence. They were really nice things to come back to!

* * *

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Whenever Blue was under vast amounts of stress, she tended to immerse herself in her studies, finding easy distraction in learning about her country's history. Today, however, it simply wasn't working.

The blue-eyed princess sighed, ghosting her fingertips across the papyrus sheet on the table before her, eyeing the writing, yet not particularly reading. It was her first time out of her room since her mother had come to visit her the other day, and Blue was currently rethinking her decision to resurface at all. The library was empty, and there was not a sound to be heard aside from servants passing by the open door every now and then. Some would peak in, check to make sure Blue was alright, but were always sent scurrying down the halls when fixed with the piercing ice-blue glare of the Pharaoh's only daughter.

Truthfully, she didn't wish to be alone, but she was too afraid to seek out her usual confidants. Cher had dressed her this morning, the both of them sliding easily back into their normal routine, yet Blue couldn't help but feel as if something had changed. Cher had been different, but she couldn't fathom why. But what bothered her the most was the fact that she still hadn't seen Tsume yet.

He may have kept to the shadows most of the time, always watching but never really participating, but Blue could always feel his presence when he was near. She felt safe. But not today. Her guard was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe he's getting a head start on our new rules." Blue growled out bitterly, sweeping her arm across the table, knocking all the scrolls off in the process.

Cher had explained it, her mother had explained it, and Blue still refused to accept it. During her engagement with Prince Jamal, her contact with her best friend was to be drastically declined. He was still her guard, protecting her from whatever threats may fall upon her, but they couldn't be with each other as they had before. He wasn't allowed to come into Blue's room and sit out on the balcony with her when the sun was setting any longer. Blue supposed it hadn't been proper to begin with, but at least before no one really had a reason to stop them.

Now that the shock was gone, her grief had completely given way to anger. Anger at her father, anger at Prince Jamal, and anger at Lord Abhi for even bringing the blasted prince into the world. If her betrothed thought she was going to fall into his arms like a damsel in need, he was sorely mistaken. Blue would never forgive her future husband for going along with this, for ruining her life without a second thought. "If he loved me even a little, he wouldn't make me go through with this." She said, her voice echoing in the vast space the library provided.

"Surely you aren't scorning your father in his own palace, Young Mistress."

"Tsume!" She gasped, sitting upright in her seat when she noticed that one of the passing figures had stopped. The smirk on his face that normally made her want to smack him only made her feel relieved now. It was almost as if nothing had changed. She could go on pretending for a while longer. "No, I was not blaspheming my father. Don't be absurd."

"You never know these days." There was something careful about the way Tsume was acting, Blue noticed almost immediately. The older boy lingered by the door, leaning against the frame in the same manner that he would lean against the posts on her bed. The smirk was gone, but there was no smile at all. Whenever the two were separated for periods of time, for whatever reason, they couldn't help but express their happiness at being together once more, even if they fought like peasants over a golden coin. Her stomach began to ache when she realized her friend looked prepared to bolt from the room at any given moment.

Refusing to make her distress known, Blue leaned over to pick up the scrolls she had tossed aside, rolling her eyes dramatically. "You need not stay here and babysit me, Tsume. I'm certain you have other things to do."

"Like I've had other things to do for the past five days?" Tsume replied, golden eyes scanning Blue's face as if searching for something. "Contrary to what you may believe, I have no life outside of serving you."

Blue nodded curtly, glaring harshly at the scrolls before her. Now that they were once more in her sights, she wanted them back on the floor where they belonged. "Well, then what have you been doing all this time?"

"Oh, you know." The other boy drawled, and Blue looked up, suddenly curious when he moved further into the room only to turn and shut the door behind him. This was definitely something her mother and Cher had told her not to do. But for some reason, she felt safer knowing that she and Tsume were trapped in some other world where marriage didn't exist and two friends could enjoy one another's company without worrying about getting stoned. The princess never wanted that door to open ever again. "Talking to the Queen, listening to Cher yell at me for not trying to get you out of your room, spying on that fiancé of yours. The normal."

"I can always count on you to handle important matters." The girl sighed, sliding down in her chair as she rubbed at her temples. "What have you figured out about him?"

Tsume walked over to the table, grabbing a chair across from Blue and straddling the back of it, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. The bemused look in his eyes almost brought a smile to her face. Almost. "Well, he's been trying to arrange a meeting with you since the day you locked yourself away."

"So, he's demanding."

"He doesn't eat much. Just pushes his food around his plate and then excuses himself halfway through the meal."

"And rude."

"He also tells is father any chance he gets that coming to the palace wasn't a bright idea, and he wants to return to Sinai."

"And ungrateful."

"Pray tell. You seem unwilling to even entertain the idea that Prince Jamal may be the least bit decent. Why is that?" Tsume said, a certain curiosity in his voice that Blue had never heard before. Anyone who took the time to look would notice that Tsume was a silent boy when in the presence of others, and even when in audience with the princess he never expressed much verbal interest in certain matters, only bringing a physical presence if needed. The older boy's obvious interest in her fiancé left Blue feeling worried. Was Tsume trying to make up for all the times he'd brushed off her trivial worries, knowing that their time together was running out?

Blue was silent for a moment, eyes locked with those of her trusted guard, thoughts spinning, stomach churning, and hands shaking. What she wouldn't give for an eternal hot bath. "I don't know." She stated, proud of how controlled her voice sounded on the outside, when inside all she wanted to do was clutch at Tsume and cry. "I simply do not take kindly to those who try to bend me to their will."

"Well, I could have told you that."

"What do _you _think of my ordeal?" Blue demanded, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes. "If you were me, what would you do?"

The other snorted, yet didn't seem to be out of sorts from the inquiry. "Young Mistress, my opinion is of little use to you. I myself will never be put in this situation."

_Well, aren't you lucky? _"I value your opinion, even if it is of no use to me . . . if that will help you come up with an answer."

Golden eyes regarded her curiously before the owner released a giant sigh. "I think this entire engagement is a farce. I know not of what Prince Jamal thinks of it, but I do know that you're unhappy. That enough is reason to halt this entire spectacle."

Hearing someone else say that her betrothal to the prince of Sinai wasn't a wise idea lifted a weight off Blue's shoulders, but to hear it from Tsume, who had no control over the matter at all, was disheartening. "But it's for the good of the country."

For a moment, anger flashed through Tsume's eyes, but it was gone almost as soon as it appeared. "You asked my opinion, and I gave it, Young Mistress."

"Call me that again, and I'll treat you like I did these scrolls."

"Formality restricts me from referring to you as anything but." Tsume replied simply, the warmth that had appeared earlier gone from his eyes, as if he'd remembered that things had changed. "I should take my leave now. General Yaiden and Lieutenant Hubb are visiting today."

General Quent Yaiden was the head of the Pharaoh's militia, and had been for as long as Blue could remember. She quite liked the older man, or had rather. He used to be great fun, putting up with Tsume and Blue's antics when they were younger and hadn't known any better. In a way, the princess had viewed him as a second father, much like she viewed Cher as a second mother. But when the princess was six or so, there had been an attack in the city outside the palace. It hadn't been from invading members of Sinai's army, but a group of wolves that hadn't been taken care of in the Cleansing. The general's entire family had been viciously slaughtered before the wolves were executed, and the man hadn't been the same since.

Lieutenant Hubb Lebowski was General Yaiden's second in command, and was what Blue would call a rather scatter-brained individual. He did his duty to the country fine and never backed down from a fight, and there was only one thing that the man allowed to get under his skin. That thing was Blue's governess.

The princess wasn't sure of all the details of the matter, how one of the highest-ranking men in Egypt had somehow come to fancy her nursemaid. Blue had tried to get the information out of Cher on more than one occasion, but the blonde-haired servant refused to budge. Blue wasn't much of a gossiper, but this was simply a matter she refused to let go.

But all things aside, if the heads of her father's military were visiting the palace, something significant must have been happening. _Or they're coming to convince Tsume to leave again._

Ever since the day her guard had turned thirteen it had been like this. Every few months or so, either the Lieutenant or the General would come to visit the palace in an attempt to coerce Tsume into leaving the palace to join them in the field where he would receive "real" training in combat. They'd seen his skills with swords and stealth on more than one occasion, often witnessing Blue's rants when her guard managed to sneak up on her completely unnoticed. Tsume had always declined in a less than gracious manner, sending Cher into one of her lectures about respect and Blue into a fit of giggles. The older boy had always said his place was to eternally serve at Blue's side, and Blue jerked in her seat when she considered that perhaps, what with all the things that had been happening, things had changed in his mind. "Wait!"

Tsume paused in his journey towards the door, turning partially to look at her. He looked so expressionless. "Yes?"

"Take me out."

" . . . I beg your pardon?"

"To the city." Blue clarified, nodding her head once, firmly. "You're always saying I need to get out more. So now I'm taking you up on your offer. Take me to the city."

Tsume actually looked baffled, staring straight at her as if he thought she'd gone mad. Then he blinked, shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts. A frown appeared on his face. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"The city . . . it's not—" Tsume shifted his gaze away from her, staring off into the depths of the library. "My duty is to protect you from danger. Why ever would I take you out into the busy streets of Memphis?"

"That never stopped you from suggesting the notion before."

"It was only in jest!"

"Tsume," Blue sighed, suddenly exhausted. She'd been feeling so down after the past couple days, and she thought she would never be truly happy again. "In a few short weeks I will no longer be my own person. My body and soul will belong to another. The moments in which I can have fun are rapidly dwindling. So, please, take me out."

Tsume regarded her for a few moments, opening his mouth to say something before closing it again, shaking his head slightly. "Grab your cloak." He said with a sigh, turning to exit the room once more. "Why do I have the feeling I'm going to regret this?"

Blue gave herself a mental pat on the back before snatching her blue cloak from the back of her chair, scurrying after her guard. He led her through the halls silently, back stiff and scowl firmly in place. Blue scanned the surrounding areas vigilantly, searching for any sign of her fiancé or his father. She would rather not discuss why she'd been missing the past few days to either of them. She would have one last tryst, for lack of a better word.

Tsume stopped when they reached the door that lead out of the palace, turning to fix her with a hard stare. She expected a lecture, but her guard only reached out and grabbed her hood, pulling it over her head. "Let no one find out who you are." He instructed. "If for some reason we get separated, do not come looking for me. Come straight back here."

Blue rolled her eyes, but nodded. "This isn't my first time out of the palace, Tsume, nor am I a child. I'll be fine. Let's just go."

They left the palace uncontested, though they had received questioning glances from the guards at the gate before they'd offered to accompany them into the streets. Tsume had declined rather gracefully, which Blue was considerably grateful for, and they managed to slip into the crowded streets outside the palace without attracting attention.

The last time Blue had left the palace had been many months ago before her mother had fallen terribly ill. She couldn't remember what the purpose for their journey had been, but Cher, her mother, and Tsume had all seemed out of sorts that day. She did remember that it had been a week before the fourteenth anniversary of the Cleansing. When they'd been out before, the entire street had parted to let them through, some people cheering, others whispering, some even crying. It had overwhelmed Blue at the time, but that day almost a year ago was nothing compared to what she was surrounded by now.

Blue stayed practically glued to Tsume's back, keeping a firm hold on the back of his cloak as she looked around from underneath her hood. People were bustling to and fro all over the place, shouting and yelling and pushing one another in their haste to get to their destinations. Some were more dignified, calmly maneuvering his or her way around all the other people just as she and Tsume were. This entire place was wild, almost feral with all the activity and movement, yet all Blue could feel was fascination. It was usually so quiet within the palace. The sounds that drifted through her open balcony hardly compared to what it felt like to be exactly where the commotion was taking place.

But the royal was aware of too much. Every sound had her head turning, every scent made her nose twitch. A scowl crossed her shadowed face as she realized what was causing the annoyances, and she bit her lip to keep from releasing a growl. _I am not a wolf, nor will I ever be. Overcome these urges, Isis, you are stronger than this!_

Blue was so immersed in her own thoughts that she didn't notice when Tsume stopped walking, and she bumped into him. "Hey, what are you—" She began, but broke off when she realized that Tsume had stopped because he'd bumped into someone as well.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" The boy in front of Tsume practically squeaked, looking rather small in the wake of her guard's intimidating stare and stature. The civilian looked no older than she did, maybe even a little younger, with auburn hair and bright brown eyes that practically radiated innocence. Blue could tell he wasn't a confident sort from the way he refused to meet their eyes. The poor thing looked ready to bolt. _He can't possibly know who we are. Right? _"I was just looking for my—"

When those brown eyes finally lifted to lock with Tsume's, the boy looked startled. And suddenly, it was as if a lever was pulled within the boy, his demeanor changing. He straightened, eyes suddenly bright. "Hey! You're another one. Just like me." He then looked behind Tsume at Blue, who was frozen under the boy's gaze. There was something about him . . . but she couldn't explain it for the life of her. "You too!"

"Look, kid—" Tsume started, sounding uncharacteristically cold, and Blue curled her right hand in the back of his cloak, giving it a firm tug. The peasant child had done nothing wrong. Surely Tsume wasn't upset that they'd simply bumped into one another.

"Toboe! Where did you go?"

The brown-eyed boy jolted, snapping his head around to stare at a spot behind him, further among the crowd of people. "I'm over here, Hige!"

For a moment, nothing happened, and Blue craned her neck to try and follow the boy's line of sight, peering over Tsume's shoulder. Then, from seemingly out of nowhere, came a man. Well, Blue couldn't technically call him a man since he looked no older than Tsume. She could tell he was a worker, what with his tan skin and lean muscle, the kind that promised future development later on in life. She noticed the exasperation in his eyes, the color reminding her of honey, but the emotion slowly faded as he shifted his gaze from Toboe to her. Blue stared, transfixed, as the commoner eyed her curiously, head tilted slightly as if in thought. The girl would never admit it, but the way he was so blatantly observing her made heat rise to her face. "Making new friends, Toboe?" Hige asked, slinging an arm around Toboe's shoulders casually. Blue noticed how the younger of the two squirmed slightly in the hold, eyes darting uncomfortably to the side. Her curiosities peaked, however, when Hige finally took notice of her guard. "Tsume? What are you doing on this side of the gate?"

Tsume made a noise that was almost a growl, pushing back into Blue so she stumbled back a step. "That's no business of yours, Porky."

_Porky? How utterly tasteless. _"Surely you can come up with a better nickname than that." Hige said, almost purring out the words, voicing Blue's thoughts. "How dare you show any form of inadequacy in the presence of the Princess? Really, Tsume, I thought you were supposed to be the best?"

Blue stiffened, glancing around for fear that someone had heard. But no one seemed to take any notice of the four standing in the middle of the street, simply walking around them and continuing on with their day. She opened her mouth to voice her curiosities about how her guard had come to know this interesting individual, but Toboe had other ideas. "P—Princess?" He stuttered, slipping out from beneath Hige's arm to stare with wide eyes at Blue. "You mean the _Pharaoh's _daughter?"

"Do you know of any other princesses this far out in the desert?" Blue asked steadily, stepping out from behind Tsume's shadow even though he'd told her to keep a low profile, but before she could utter another word, the boy had disappeared, escaping into the crowd without looking back, leaving Blue utterly shocked and confused.

Hige sighed, staring at the spot where Toboe had disappeared. "Great. Just great. Kiba's really gonna lay into me when he learns I lost his brother not once, but _twice! _The gods must have it out for me."

"Why did he run?" Blue asked, still staring after the young boy. Maybe it was just her mind playing tricks, but it had almost seemed like Toboe had been afraid. He'd almost seemed happy to see her on their first meeting, but once he found out she was the princess, that had changed. Blue couldn't remember ever doing anything that might have made the people scared of her. After all, this was the first time she'd left the safety of the palace in years. But while she wasn't sure what had caused the change, the obvious fear she'd seen in the boys brown eyes left her feeling strangely hollow.

"Ah, don't worry about the kid." Hige replied, thought Blue noticed how the warmth and playfulness had left his voice. For some reason, she was disappointed. "He doesn't do well in crowds."

"Toboe's brother." Tsume said sharply. "What did you say his name was?"

Blue glanced at her companion curiously, wondering why he was so interested, while Hige's eyes narrowed slightly, his chin lifting. "Why would the palace help possibly need to know the name of Toboe's brother?"

The blue-eyed princess sniffed, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at the boy from underneath her hood. "Tis best you answer when spoken to; especially in the presence of royalty."

Normally Blue's "business" voice left even the most distinguished of men trembling in their cloaks, not wishing to win ill favor with the only child of the most powerful man in the nation. But to Blue's utter surprise, Hige hardly flinched. Instead, he turned his now hard amber eyes to her, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Is that so?" Blue had to struggle to remain composed, for he was using that voice again. "And what _exactly _would you do to me should I decide to, oh, I don't know . . . _refuse_ to comply with your orders, Isis? Would Daddy come down from his pedestal and personally see to my execution for daring to refuse his precious daughter's requests?"

All Blue could do was stare.

"Watch your tongue, Hige." Tsume snapped, sounding thoroughly irritated and increasingly furious. "You will refer to your future sovereign as Your Highness or Princess and nothing less. Slip up again, and I'll make sure you'll regret it."

There was a flash of amusement in those deep, amber eyes. "Is that a promise, Claw?"

"I'll cut you down like the pig that you are." Tsume snarled, taking a threating step forward, hand flying to his sword as if he was seriously contemplating drawing it out and following through with his threat. Before Blue could stop him, however, a cart drawn by a donkey rattled by, separating her and Tsume from the smirking commoner. When the cart cleared off, Hige was gone.

"Dammit!" Tsume spat, furious golden eyes scanning the crowd, looking for any sign of the disrespectful boy. "The gluttonous bastard can't even finish what he started."

"Who was he?" Blue asked, surprised by her guard's sudden lack of control. It was imperative for Tsume to keep a level head when in her presence so as not to slip up and possibly put her life in danger for letting his defenses down. Even the most hardened of criminals spewing blasphemy on their way to execution couldn't get Tsume riled up. What was it about that boy that made Tsume lose all of his impeccable composure? "You two seemed to be quite friendly."

"Friendly isn't exactly the word I would use." Tsume muttered, turning around to face her. Blue flinched, almost frightened by the feral look in his eyes even if the anger wasn't directed at her. Something was off about him. She'd seen her friend angry plenty of times, had seen him rage about the stupidity of her father's council, but this was different. His eyes were harder, more narrow, and he wore an expression of one who'd just tasted something extremely foul. "His father is an officer in the military. We used to play together before he turned into a complete and utter moron. Now, if you've had enough of the city, I'm taking you back." Too afraid to argue, Blue only nodded in reply, allowing Tsume to guide her away from the busy streets and back towards the palace.

And the entire way back to the safety of the palace gates, all Blue could think about were those boys they'd met, how one had left her feeling numb with the weight of his fear, and the other completely flustered with his every changing eyes and voice. Toboe and Hige. For two rather unimportant individuals in the grand nation that was Egypt, they'd certainly left an impact on Blue that she wasn't soon to forget.

* * *

Perhaps leaving Toboe alone with Hige hadn't been the brightest of ideas.

The idea certainly hadn't been Kiba's, who'd been isolated in Hige's home for the better part of the day with a migraine so crippling it hurt to even stand. Toboe and Hige had tried their best to stay quiet so as not to disturb him, but as it turned out, sitting still and being quiet wasn't something either of them was good at.

Around midday, Hige had offered to take Toboe out into the city so as to leave Kiba in peace, to show him around and get him more comfortable with his surroundings. Neither Kiba nor Toboe had been completely thrilled by the idea, though in the end Toboe's worry for Kiba's health had driven him from the house, out into the busy streets of Memphis without his older brother at his side. For the first few hours that they'd been gone, Kiba hadn't been able to do much resting, fretting over Toboe's well-being and whether or not Hige was watching over him. Even though Kiba had only known the other worker for less than a day, he trusted Hige to make sure nothing happened to Toboe while Kiba was otherwise preoccupied. But even Kiba had to admit that Hige's focus sometimes lacked where it counted. All he could really do was sit and wait for them to return.

Kiba sighed quietly, throwing his right forearm over his eyes in an attempt to block out the light that seeped through the windows, even though the curtains were closed. It had been a long while since the last time he had pains this severe. As a child, it was no uncommon feat that Kiba stay in bed for hours, sometimes days on end when the throbbing of his temples became too intense. His mother would sit with him—and then his grandmother after the death of his parents—and stay with him through the worst of the tremors and cold sweats, only leaving when Kiba fell away into a deep sleep. Thankfully, it hadn't reached that point yet, but Kiba had still taken his shirt off and lay around in his under-linens, just to be on the safe side. He couldn't afford to be incapacitated, not now when so much was going on.

Thinking it over, Kiba wasn't really all that surprised that he'd woken up earlier that morning to the flashes of white light that accompanied a rather intense headache. He'd never say so to Toboe, but the crowded city they'd managed to land themselves in was getting to him as well. There were too many noises, thousand of unfamiliar smells that came with a city as large and populated as this one. Kiba was out of his usual environment, and the wolf inside of him was going mad.

He could feel it as he lay there on Hige's bed, the squirming in his chest and stomach that was his instincts. _Mark your territory. Scout your surroundings. Be on alert for danger._ Kiba had never minded his wolf side before, but in that moment, he wished it would just shut up. He was too tired and weary to deal with it and wanted to focus on other things, like his brother. What could he do for Toboe if Kiba was battling his instincts and suffering from crippling migraines? Absolutely nothing. And the frustration he felt was only making the pains worse.

Something in Kiba tensed suddenly, and the reaction startled him for a moment before the front door burst open. Sitting up so quickly his head started to spin, Kiba had only just opened his eyes as a trembling mess of a twelve-year-old latched onto him in a vice-like grip. "Toboe?" Kiba rasped, and then cleared his throat before attempting to speak again. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I—We saw—Kiba, we met Princess Isis!"

Kiba only nodded curtly in understanding, holding onto Toboe as the younger boy tried to gain his bearings, obviously still shaken from his encounter with the Pharaoh's daughter. Kiba had never seen the girl in person before, had no right to judge her character in any way, shape, or form, yet from the things he'd heard around Thebes, he had a theory that Isis Darcia was going to be every bit the ruler her father was.

The crowned jewel of Egypt, the blue-eyed Princess of the Nile was adored in most of the land, doted upon by the servants of the palace and praised by the citizens of Egypt. She was said to be a desert beauty, an exotic girl gifted with her mother's foreign features and her father's sapphire eyes, yet had a tongue about her and didn't wish to be told what to do. That, Kiba concluded, was where everything went wrong with the young girl. To be a leader, you had to accept others' opinions and act upon them, use them to strengthen yourself and the way you ruled your country. It was obvious the Pharaoh had missed that lesson as a young ruler in training, and look where it had landed their country. But apart from all the fundamentals of a ruler that Isis seemed to lack, there was one thing that stuck out in Kiba's mind, something that instinctively told him that under no circumstances should Isis be the next ruler of the country.

The Darcia's were wolves. Everyone knew it, yet no one dared say something about it for fear of execution. On the night of the massacre, the Pharaoh had slaughtered his own, cut down those of a species that he himself was apart of. Hypocrisy at its finest, as his grandmother used to say. The Pharaoh had sworn off all ties with his lupine brethren long ago, long before Isis was even a thought, yet the weight of his actions—as Kiba had heard—had affected the girl greatly, and she too was following in his footsteps. Kiba had sometimes wondered what the princess might look like as a wolf. If his neighbors were right in their stories and she was truly as exotic as they claimed, then he had no doubts she would've been a beauty to behold. But the princess harbored a hatred for wolves that rivaled her own father's, if one could even fathom such a thing. Darcia hadn't always hated wolves, as the story went, but Isis had been raised on such disgust. She had years upon years to grow and develop into a ruler that was more of a tyrant than her father had ever been. Would Egypt ever be free of the curse known as the Darcia family?

"Did she see you? Speak with you? Figure out what you were?" Kiba demanded. He had no idea what knowledge the girl had of their kind, if she could tell one from a normal human like Hige could. Their time in Memphis might have been cut drastically short depending on Toboe's response.

Toboe tightened his grip around Kiba's neck, and the older of the two finally felt the first tear land on his bare shoulder. The depths to Toboe's fear of the royal family went far beyond anything Kiba could imagine, for unlike Toboe, he didn't truly fear the throne. He hated them for what they'd done, for reducing his family to this. He'd cry for the loss, for the rage, but out of fear?

Never.

"We talked. I—I had no idea who she was."

"Was she alone?"

"No. She had a man with her."

Kiba was about to fire out another question when the door opened again, revealing a rather disgruntled looking Hige. "There you are, you little runt." The amber-eyed boy said with an exasperated sigh. "Did you have to run off like that? Talk about embarrassing."

"Where were you?" Kiba snapped, not allowing Toboe to escape from his grasp. His younger brother may have been embarrassed about his reaction and how quickly he'd run back to Kiba for comfort, but Kiba knew Toboe like the back of his hand. He wasn't letting go until the tremors had completely stopped. "Why'd you let Toboe speak with her? You live here, surely you knew what the princess looked like!"

"It wasn't Hige's fault." Toboe muttered guiltily. "I wandered off while he was talking with his friends."

"Friends?" Kiba echoed, blue eyes narrowing at the sheepish look that crossed Hige's face. "And were these _friends_ by chance women?"

"Well, yes, but—"

"Okay, fine, I have a weakness for any pretty thing in a dress." Hige exclaimed, interrupting Toboe and clasping his hands behind his neck and looking up at the ceiling, closing his eyes. "Behead me if you must. I shouldn't have taken my eyes off the kid. I'm sorry."

Kiba said nothing. He hadn't been expecting an apology. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again." He said slowly, eyes darting from Hige's face, to Toboe's, and back again. Hige nodded slightly, obviously understanding the unspoken message.

Toboe was precious to Kiba, and if Hige jeopardized his safety again, he'd have Kiba to answer to.

"Who was that man, Hige?" Toboe asked quietly, managing to slip from his brother's grasp when he wasn't paying attention. "The one with the Princess? You two seemed to know one another."

"Oh, him?" Hige snorted, rolling his eyes. "His name's Tsume. He's the Princess' personal bodyguard. A real pain in the arse, that guy."

"He seemed alright to me." Toboe replied, sitting down on the bed next to Kiba with a thoughtful look on his face. "I mean, besides the fact that he was a wolf, he—"

Kiba was instantly alert. "What? A wolf is working in the palace?"

Hige nodded, walking over to the table and pulling a chair out, straddling the back of it. "Yeah, he's a wolf alright. His mother's one too."

"And the Pharaoh hasn't killed them yet?"

"No one knows about it." Hige explained. "If they did, Tsume and his mom—and his dad too for having procreated with a wolf—would be way past the point of death. The Pharaoh shows no leniency when it comes to us."

A wolf working under Pharaoh Darcia's rule. What a spectacle. Kiba didn't know this Tsume character at all, but he'd already lost Kiba's respect. How could anyone, let alone a wolf, willingly serve the throne? It was traitorous, shameful. How could a wolf ever let himself fall so low? "How do you know him?" Toboe asked curiously.

"Well, our moms were childhood friends." Hige replied. "When they were young, Tsume's mother Nita was taken to the palace and became a slave to pay off a dept her family owed the previous Pharaoh. She met Tsume's dad there and the rest is pretty obvious, I guess. My mother and her family were killed in the Massacre, as well as Nita's, but by then everyone in the palace who'd known of Nita's origins was either dead or retired. Tsume and I know each other because Nita used to bring him out to see us back when we were kids. She and my mom had stayed in contact until the very end, and she helped to make sure I was still alive and kicking after my dad left for the war."

"So, you and Tsume used to play together as kids?"

"Not exactly," Hige said with a small chuckle, eyes glazing over as he traveled to a time in his past, to a fond memory, perhaps. Kiba had seen the look before. His grandmother always had it when she talked about the days Kiba and Toboe were born. "I'd poke him, and he'd call me fat. We hardly got along, still don't as you can see, but at least I can say he has his head somewhat in the right place."

"How do you know all this?" Kiba asked. Hige seemed to know an awful lot about what happened long before he was born. Maybe he and Tsume were closer than he was letting on. And so far, Tsume wasn't someone in Kiba's good graces.

"My old man told me. He works with Tsume's dad, you know. His parents and my dad are still close even if my mom isn't around anymore."

Kiba said nothing, though he felt Toboe slump somewhat beside him. It had been a long time since either of them had given much thought to the fact that they were orphans, even if they'd had their grandmother around. Their parents were nothing more than a fond memory now, something warm to hold onto in the chill of the night. In their village, everyone had been careful not to say anything that might remind the boys of that traumatic time in their past. Here, no one knew of what had happened, and listening to Hige talk about his parents' history was stirring something within Toboe and Kiba that neither of them wanted to deal with.

Thankfully, Hige had other things on his mind than his parents. "Kiba, what's that on your shoulder?"

"It's a scar." Toboe answered for Kiba, familiar with the odd, discolored pattern on his sibling's left shoulder. "He got cut by a rusty nail when we were little."

"It's an odd pattern." Hige commented. "Looks like a crescent moon to me."

"That's how we see it." Kiba said, reaching up with his right hand to cover to scar. Kiba had a sharp mind and therefore a good memory, but he didn't remember cutting himself when he was a kid. But his mother had told him once that it happened when he was a baby. The blue-eyed youth had never really liked the mark on his flesh, but Toboe's insistence that it was a neat wound had eventually won Kiba over. It was just a part of him now, simple as that. "My grandmother always said it was fitting."

Hige grinned, nodding. "Be better if it was a full moon."

"Now _that _would just be ridiculous." Kiba replied, feeling a smile of his own begin to appear, but was cut short as he winced, removing his hand from his shoulder to press the heel of his palm firmly into his right temple.

"Kiba?" Toboe said worriedly, reaching over to touch his brother's arm. "Are you okay?"

Kiba nodded, and it took all of his willpower to keep from crying out. Toboe and Hige's return had managed to distract him from the pain momentarily, but the information he'd been given and fretting over Toboe's state of mind had clearly taken its toll. The pains were back with a vengeance, it seemed. "Does this happen a lot?" Hige asked softly as Toboe coerced Kiba into lying down once more, hushing the older boy when he tried to protest.

"This is the first time it's happened in a while." Kiba closed his eyes as Toboe replied to Hige, focusing on the sound of his sibling's voice. "But they usually aren't this bad."

"How long has it been going on?"

"Since we were little. Our father always said Kiba was given a gifted mind by the gods and his mortal body couldn't handle the strength of it sometimes."

Hige was silent for some time, something Kiba hadn't been expecting. His father's words had obviously been an exaggeration, something to pacify Toboe when he thought Kiba was dying and to express the fondness he held for his eldest son.

When Hige finally spoke, Kiba was already half asleep and barely managed to catch the end of their conversation. "If he suffers this much pain it must be one hell of a mind."

"Yeah . . . well, I think our father was right. Kiba just thinks it's rubbish."

"It's hard to comprehend greatness like that sometimes, Toboe. Gifted or not, Kiba's only a man. He has weaknesses too, and he can only do so much against them, just like the rest of us."

Hige's words were strange and oddly out of character, but Kiba had never felt more understood than in those few precious moments before he drifted off to sleep.


	7. Chapter 6

_Author's Note: _For a little change of pace, this first part is from Toboe's POV. I miss writing for him, so I allowed him to have his moment to shine for a bit. It won't happen again until later. The second part is from Tsume's. Both wolves have their own agenda, and nothing is going to stop them from achieving their goals. They're more alike than they probably realize.

As you can all probably tell, I'm not making it any huge secret that something pretty awful is going to occur. And I'm doing that on purpose. You'll see why eventually ;) Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

* * *

**Chapter 6**

* * *

It was during the night when Toboe felt the most alone.

He'd stopped sleeping through the night many moons ago, long before his granny had been killed and he and Kiba ran away from home. He never told his older brother, knowing that he would do nothing but worry and perhaps insist to stay awake with him. Toboe didn't want that. Kiba deserved all the rest he could get considering the work he had to do during the day. Toboe would brave through the darkness on his own.

Toboe turned his gaze to his brother as Kiba shifted in his sleep, arm stretching out to cover the spot where Toboe should've been laying. He'd chosen to sit cross-legged at the edge of the bed, back pressed against the wall to keep a silent vigil over his brother and Hige, whom Toboe had learned like to sleep in his wolf form. He was splayed out on his back on the carpet, tongue hanging out of his mouth and hind leg twitching as he dreamed. The brown-eyed boy suppressed a giggle as he watched, but quickly sobered up, grimacing as his previous thoughts returned to him.

The boy would've liked to go to bed, to curl up beside his brother and allow the warmth radiating from his body to lull him to sleep, but there was just too much on his mind. His encounter with the Princess that afternoon had left him paranoid and shaken no matter how many times Kiba and Hige assured him that everything would be fine. But they hadn't been there when he'd essentially told Princess Isis and Tsume his secret. _"Hey, you're another one! Just like me!" _How could he have been so stupid? Kiba had always warned him never to give away his secret to strangers, even to other wolves like them, and Toboe had gone and done just that.

Maybe it wouldn't have been such a big deal if it had been someone else, _anyone _else. Toboe was sick with worry and guilt over what he'd done. What if the Princess turned them in? He could've accidently gotten his brother and their new friend killed! But he also remembered what Hige had said about her guard. The Princess may have hated wolves, but could the same be said for Tsume? Would he take advantage of Toboe's slip and expose them? Toboe knew he wouldn't be able to dispel his fears for many months to come, but in the end, there was nothing he could do.

As a Seer hardly capable in his abilities, Toboe was akin to a baby learning to toddle. He'd always been a child that the villagers back in Thebes had deemed cloud-brained, always lost within his own head and not paying much attention to what happened around him. The other children had made fun of him, thinking Toboe mentally ill, but he had never minded the teasing. As a Messenger, the twelve-year-old was as close to a god as any mortal could be, aside from the Pharaoh. The way he acted and presented himself frightened people, of that he was aware, and humans were afraid of things they couldn't understand. He was linked to the gods in ways only a few others were, and as such, he held love for all of creation.

Humans were strong and adaptable, and he was so in awe of everything they could accomplish that sometimes the emotions he experienced were overwhelming and he would weep. It happened often when he was a child, hence the other children poking fun at him and calling him nothing but a weeping mess of a boy, and still, Toboe loved them. Humans weren't perfect—they always seemed to be hurting one another, destroying life as often as they created it—but then again, nothing was perfect aside from the gods.

When Toboe had been cornered by those boys on the streets, the ones who had threatened to stone him to gain access to his bag, the fear he'd felt had almost been overrun by his despair. The gods had never wanted that for them. As Toboe had looked at each boy, he'd seen glimpses of their pasts, of their futures. Some of them would die before the next harvest came. One from starvation, two from beatings at the hands of the guards in charge of them. Toboe had showed his fangs, had defended himself as best he could, but even if they had tried to kill him he wouldn't have fought back. They had been created for a purpose, and Toboe wanted nothing more than for them to achieve greatness before their inevitable demise.

Tears pricked the boy's eyes, as he thought about the one who Hige had grabbed, the one with the black hair. His death would be particularly gruesome. _Please, make it swift. He is too young for such atrocities._

Sometimes, Toboe's ability frustrated him. It was so unpredictable, and he never received information that he wanted. If he could see the life and death of a group of laborers he'd just met, then why hadn't he been able to foretell the death of his parents or his granny? But then again, the gods only showed him things they wanted him to know. Maybe showing him the deaths of the boys was to tell Toboe about how hard it was to live in the streets of Memphis, to show him how lucky he was that he had a roof above his head and two able-bodied wolves to look after him.

Toboe shuddered at the thought of Kiba and Hige. Something was wrong with them, of that he was certain. He'd noticed the change in Kiba the day after Granny had been killed, the ominous sort of cloud that followed his brother wherever he went. The same could be said for Hige.

The two of them were in danger, and Toboe had been awake for the past few hours agonizing over it, for he couldn't tell what was going to happen. He'd pleaded with the gods for an answer, for a glimpse into what they had in store for his beloved brother and the boy that had taken the two of them into his home, yet they'd remained unhelpfully silent. But Toboe had noticed something else earlier, something that made him think that his entire world was going to be altered once more, maybe for the last time.

He'd felt the same ominous presence when he'd met with the Princess and Tsume.

At first he'd thought it was coming from Hige who hadn't been far off, but once he actually focused on the two of them and thoroughly examined their presence, he knew that the two of them were also under threat. The gods worked in subtle ways, but it was Toboe's duty to interpret the signs and make sense of them. So far, all he'd managed to come up with was this:

The fates of the Princess of Egypt, her guard, a blue-eyed healer from the village of Thebes, and a mischievous laborer from Memphis were all intertwined somehow. Toboe meeting them earlier had been no coincidence, and he was certain they hadn't seen the last of them.

Their destinies were out of his hands, and the thought that he was possibly going to lose Kiba broke Toboe inside, produced him to nothing but a shaking mess of fear and grief. But what Toboe couldn't figure out was his role in all of this. What was he supposed to do, sit idly by and watch the destruction of those he cared about? Not again. He refused. But who was he to challenge the will of the gods? If Kiba and Hige were supposed to die, then he had no right to change that.

_But if Kiba dies, I might as well give up. _Toboe glanced at his brother again, his vision blurring as hot tears began to spill down his cheeks. _I'd have nothing left. _

When had Toboe grown so dependent on his older brother? When had the thought of Kiba dying made him feel so empty and hopeless inside? He loved life, was completely willing to experience all that he could, but to do so without Kiba at his side? The thought was incomprehensible.

"Toboe?" Toboe startled as a sleepy voice penetrated his thoughts, and he blinked his eyes a few times to clear them, realizing that Kiba was looking up at him through clouded blue eyes. "Was' da matter?"

Toboe sniffed, affection flooding through him as he listened to Kiba—stoic and composed Kiba—slur out his concern in his half-asleep state. Only Toboe ever saw this side of his brother, the one with sleep-mused hair and drool in puddles on his pillow, and Toboe cherished every moment, because he knew better than anyone how fragile the life of a human could be. "Nothing's the matter, Brother, I just—" Toboe paused, thinking over is answer carefully. Kiba would know immediately if Toboe lied to him, so perhaps he should at least try to stick with the truth. "I had a nightmare."

Even half asleep, Kiba could pick up on his sibling's distress, and Toboe didn't have the strength to fight as his sleepy brother reached out to grasp his wrist gently, pulling him back to his side, where he belonged. "You don't have to be scared." Kiba muttered sleepily, and Toboe was so glad his head was tucked underneath Kiba's chin so his brother couldn't see the stricken look that the younger boy knew must have been on his face. "Everything's fine. I promise."

Toboe said nothing, and eventually Kiba slipped back under, though his grip around Toboe never loosened. And as the eldest brother slept peacefully on, the younger began to panic. Nothing was going right. Everything was falling apart. _Kiba can't die. He just can't! _

Hige grunted in his sleep, and Toboe heard his fur brushing the floor as he rolled over in his sleep. Even if he'd only known him for an impossibly short amount of time, Hige had grown on Toboe, and the thought of something awful happening to him—of him dying—made Toboe ache. _There must be something I can do. I'm a Seer, damn it all! I receive visions so I can help people and try to make the future better! _

Toboe was no god. He was a mortal, a Messenger, a weak, adolescent child that often became lost in his own head. He'd never thought about taking matters into his own hands before, had never even dreamed that he could have that kind of power, but as he lay there with his brother, listening to the strong, reassuring beat of his heart, Toboe knew that the time for dawdling was over. He was going to do everything within his power to make sure that the sound he had known since he was a baby never faded, never even skipped a beat.

And if defying the gods themselves was what it took, Toboe was going to do just that.

* * *

A pair of narrow, golden eyes opened as one grey ear twitched, listening with rapt precision as a ghostly wail echoed down the hall. A lump of dread settled low in his belly. The torture had begun once more. "Tsume." The grey wolf lifted his head, glancing over his shoulder at the wolf lying on the bed at the far end of the room, who was staring at him with worried orbs of amber. "What are they doing to her? It's been going on for days now."

"I know not, Mother." Tsume responded, glaring down at his claws as his tail gave an agitated twitch. "In all my searchings I cannot figure out what Darcia is doing to the Seer."

Nita's ear twitched, though Tsume knew his mother well enough to understand when she was anxious or afraid, even if she wouldn't admit it to him. It didn't help that his father was gone either, off guarding Blue's room since Tsume wasn't fit enough to do it himself. His meeting with Hige and the young wolf named Toboe had left him feeling anxious and agitated, his wolf instincts starting to escape from the tight cages he kept them in when he was human. Blue had noticed his unusual demeanor, of that he was certain, and when they'd returned to the palace earlier that day Tsume had gone straight to his parents after making sure Blue was taken care of. His father had taken care of his son's duties while Tsume had stayed behind with his mother, trembling like a newborn pup as Nita licked between his ears in a soothing manner. Tsume would've liked to say he didn't know what had caused such a violent reaction from him, but that would've been a lie. He knew exactly what had gone wrong in the streets earlier.

When they'd first run into Toboe, Tsume had been fascinated—if not a little irritated—by the young male. He hardly ever came across wolves in Memphis, most too afraid to walk in public during the day, but Toboe had been different. He'd been wide-eyed with wonder as he wandered down the street, not even acknowledging people who bumped into him or snapped at him to watch where he was going. Toboe had been completely enthralled in all the happenings around him, the look in his eyes one of complete wonder and adoration. In turn, Tsume had been focused on the boy, intrigued by his odd demeanor, and hadn't even noticed as the boy got closer and closer until their inevitable crossing had occurred. Tsume's trance had been broken instantly, and irritation at being hit had taken over.

Tsume had known Toboe was a wolf before the boy had said anything and hadn't been expecting him to mention it aloud, but Toboe had done just that and called attention to his secret—and Blue's as well. That was where things had started to go wrong in Tsume's opinion. Hige had gotten involved and exposed Blue as the princess and Tsume as her guard, and Tsume really couldn't blame the young wolf for his reaction, though it would never cease to unsettle Tsume when commoners reacted so violently when in the presence of the only friend Tsume possessed.

Blue wouldn't hurt anyone, but as time wore on the golden-eyed servant began to have his doubts. And he hated himself for it.

Hige had always gotten under Tsume's skin, even when they were children, and add that with the knowledge that Toboe had nearly told Blue Tsume's darkest secret . . . well, Tsume was surprised he hadn't bitten anyone yet.

"That poor girl." Nita murmured, amber eyes swimming with sorrow as Tsume heaved himself to his paws and padded across the room to join his mother on the bed, leaving his comfortable nest of blankets, leaves, and moss Nita collected from the valley. It soothed the two wolves, who were constantly under threat of exposure, having a little bit of nature so close at hand. "She must be praying for death."

"Death would be swifter and more merciful." Tsume replied, lying down beside Nita and resting his head on her back, heaving a huge sigh. All the teen wanted was to go back to sleep. "It must be better than whatever Darcia has in store for her."

"Do you know how a Seer is created?"

"No." Golden eyes fluttered shut as a warm tongue rasped over the male wolf's ear. "But I imagine it has something to do with the gods, as all things do in this family."

"Honestly, when did you become such a blasphemer?" Tsume didn't reply, because even if his mother's words were clipped and held an air of exasperation, there was affection there too, so there was really nothing to feel sorry about. "But you are right. A Seer is created when a mortal being is at death's door, so close to losing his or her life, but then is brought back and given a second chance. Seers were close to joining the gods, and were given glimpses of all that is to be seen, but were pulled back to this plain for whatever reason."

"So a Seer is as close to a god as mortals can be?" Tsume murmured, opening his eyes once more as another round of screams pierced the air. He and his mother were the only ones who could hear them aside from those inflicting the pain, but he knew that if the Princess were awake, she would be plagued with the awful shrieks of a Seer in excruciating pain as well. _She does hear them in her dreams. She told me as such before. _"Interesting. What was the point of that lesson again?"

Nita paused in her licking, ears perked as she glanced over at the door to their small chamber. Tsume heard the footsteps as well and held his breath, fighting back a growl. Those weren't his father's footsteps. But the pair relaxed when the footsteps continued on past their door, realizing it must have just been another servant. "There was no point at all, really." She replied softly. "It's easiest to take your mind off of things when I tell you stories."

"I'm too old for stories, Mother. I'm not a pup anymore."

"You'll always be a pup in my eyes." Tsume glared up at Nita as she huffed her laughter, then growled playfully when she noticed her son's look of ire. "Tell me, how is Isis doing? Is she well?"

Tsume blinked, lifting his head slightly. "Blue? She's fine. Why?"

"I heard about the arranged marriage with the prince of Sinai." Nita said quietly. "I imagine that Blue isn't taking this well."

As usual, his mother's perceptive skills were working their magic. "She's fine, I suppose. The idiot locked herself in her chamber for five days without speaking to anyone." The grey wolf growled. "It was like she'd given up."

"She's scared, Tsume. The unknown can be such a miserable and frightening thing." Nita murmured, and Tsume noticed that she was taking on that look she got whenever she discussed her past with him. He knew his mother's side of the family had been killed in the slaughter, that she'd been brought to the palace a decade prior to pay off a debt her parents owed the Pharaoh. It was a miracle that no one had remembered who she really was or the both of them would've been killed. Tsume had always been bitter towards the throne for separating his mother from her parents, even before he knew of the atrocities the Pharaoh had committed, though Nita had always reasoned that if she hadn't been turned into a slave, then she never would've met his father, and Tsume wouldn't have been born. But that never stopped Tsume from cursing the ground Darcia walked on, even if it had been the previous Pharaoh who forced his mother into a life of servitude. He would never get over it.

"She needn't be scared." Tsume stated. "I would love to escape Egypt and never look back. This country is wretched and corrupt from the inside out. She doesn't know how lucky she is."

Nita said nothing for a moment, watching as Tsume worked his claws restlessly into the blankets on the bed. "Blue will be leaving the only home she's ever known soon. That would be like you leaving my side before you were old enough to stop suckling. She's only a child, Tsume, and a sheltered, spoiled one at that. There's so much she doesn't know about herself, about her family."

_There's too much she doesn't know. _"Mother . . . I saw Hige today."

The mention of her childhood friend's son brought a spark to Nita's eyes that made Tsume's heart clench tightly. "Why didn't you say anything sooner? How is he? Is he alright?"

Tsume resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "He's fine. Well-fed, that's for sure. But there was this boy with him. Another one of us."

His mother didn't even have to ask. "Oh?"

Tsume nodded. "His name was Toboe, and Hige told me he had a brother. A brother named Kiba."

Nita started, jaws opening in surprise as she stared at her only son. "Kiba? Did you see the boy? Did he look like—"

"No, I never saw him. And Toboe doesn't look anything like Blue or Darcia. If they really are brothers then there's no way it could be the Prince, but—"

Tsume cut himself off as his mother jumped to her paws, turning in the bed to fix him with a piercing look. "You _must _tell the Queen."

"Me?" Tsume balked, tail lashing in the air behind him. "I have no business being in the Queen's quarters at this hour!"

"Tsume." His mother said shortly, fixing him with a look that made him feel like a child again, either hiding behind his father's legs or pinned by his mother's firm paw. Nita was getting on in years, though she wasn't old and was by no means a pushover. She was a loving and gentle mother, but when she wanted Tsume to do something it was in his best interest to get it done. "You've stumbled across information that could very well alter Egypt's future. If the Prince were to return, he could overthrow Darcia and take his place as the pharaoh. The lives of thousands could be saved!"

"How do we know that the Prince will be any different than Darcia?" Tsume challenged, the fur on the back of his neck rising. He desperately wished for a change, but after years of hoping and praying only to end up with nothing, Tsume had learned never to risk everything on an itch. Everyone was so willing to accept that Kiba would be the savior, the light in all this darkness, but how could they be so sure?

"Saying Kiba will follow in the footsteps of a man he's never met is like accusing Blue of the same crime." Nita retorted.

Tsume said nothing.

"Inform the Queen." His mother repeated, this time in a more gentle tone. "You know as well as I that she hasn't much time left. She will want to know the whereabouts of the son she gave up. She must know if he is well, if her efforts are being rewarded as we speak."

As the silence between the two dragged on, Tsume's resistance began to crumble. He imagined his own mother, on her deathbed and not knowing if he was alive and well. He would never wish that upon her, or any other mother. "I'm going to have to do the right thing here, aren't I?" He said with a giant sigh.

Nita blinked in gratitude as Tsume pushed himself to his paws, leaning forward to touch noses with him. "Be safe and let no one see you."

Tsume nodded, touching his mother's shoulder with the tip of his nose before leaping off the bed and scampering to the door, pushing it open carefully, making sure to close it fully behind him. He paused to collect himself before taking off down the hall, making sure his senses were on high alert so he could make it to the Queen's room without being detected.

The grey wolf kept to the shadows as he slunk down the corridors, his entire figure practically invisible save for his glowing, golden eyes. Tsume mentally cursed as he ascended the stairs, all too aware of every scrape his claws made against the floor. _Perhaps my nickname isn't as idiotic as I thought. It's better than Whiskers, that's for sure. _

No one was outside the Queen's door when he approached, though Cher's scent was strong, telling him that she'd only just left and would probably be returning soon. Tsume sniffed around the door for a few moments before rearing up on his hind legs, pushing the door open gently with his forepaws. He could get in serious trouble for this, but his mother was right. The Queen deserved to know that there was a possibility that her son was out in the city, right under their noses

And if she asked him to, Tsume would go find him for her.

He walked across the room slowly, ears and head down submissively, even if the woman he was meeting with wasn't a wolf like him. Queen Hamona was wide-awake, and as he approached, she turned to look at him. "Tsume." She murmured in welcome, extending a hand to the young wolf, who in return nuzzled the pale appendage gently. "Tis been a long while since I've seen you like this."

"I apologize for disturbing you, Milady." Tsume said quietly. The Queen had been given the ability to understand wolves when she became engaged to Darcia. Tsume didn't know how such a procedure was done, but he knew it had something to do with the High Priests. They'd been doing strange things within the past few decades, things that defied all reason. It worried Tsume's parents, and in turn worried him as well. There was just way too much power at the Pharaoh's disposal. "But there is something I wish to discuss with you."

"Do not apologize to me. You know better." She retracted her hand, placing it over her stomach with a huge sigh. Tsume suppressed a whine. His sovereign looked so terribly ill. "Now what do you wish to discuss. Is it Blue?"

Tsume shook his head. "No. It's—It's about your son. Prince Kiba."

Hamona blinked, staring up at the ceiling with glazed, violet eyes. "Proceed."

"Blue and I went into town today. She was feeling pent up after the days spent in her room and wished to stretch her legs." That wasn't the complete truth, but some things were meant to stay between friends. "We met two boys, wolves like us, and one of them has a brother that goes by the name of Kiba."

"Kiba." She said faintly. "Like my son."

"Yes." Tsume replied, tail lashing anxiously as he peered up at his queen. There was something off about her. She wasn't as alert as usual, not as quick. He knew she was ill and whatnot, but she'd never been this out of it before. "I have reason to believe that this boy could possibly be the Prince. If it's alright with you, Your Majesty, I would like to see if my hunch is correct."

The woman was silent for sometime, and Tsume wondered if perhaps she was asleep, or maybe she was lost in her own memories, but then she spoke. "I gave up my son to protect him, to ensure that he had a bright future. But what if he hates me for abandoning him?"

"No!" Tsume barked, flinching at his own forgetfulness to stay quiet. "If he's really your son, then he wouldn't hate you for doing what you thought was best. He'd thank you!"

"He lost his adopted parents, and then Kamiah left to join the gods. My son . . . he's all alone now." Tsume started at her whispered words, confused. The people the Queen had entrusted to raise her son were dead? When had that happened? And how did Hamona know that? "So much loss can kill a person. Why would he thank me for giving him something he couldn't keep?"

Tsume growled quietly, jumping up and placing his front paws on the bed beside the ill woman. "I'm sorry for this, Milady, but you're speaking nonsense." The wolf growled. "You sent Kiba away to protect him from Darcia. If you hadn't, then your husband would have killed Kiba, his own son, without hesitation, just like he would've killed me, or my mother, or any other wolf that stood in his way. If you hadn't given Kiba up to Kamiah, then he would be _dead_."

It wasn't until the tears appeared that Tsume realized his mistake. His mother had always told him that one day his temper would end up hurting someone else, not just him. "Darcia would've killed Kiba. My own husband would've murdered our son in cold blood." The Queen rasped, tears spilling from the corners of her eyes. The grey wolf was absolutely horrified. "I've always known, but I refused to acknowledge it until now. Tsume . . . the man I love would have killed my baby!"

"My Lady!" A horrified gasp sounded from the doorway, and Tsume dropped to the ground with his ears pressed tightly to his head as Cher entered the room, carrying a bowl of water and a cloth. She set the bowl on the table and draped the cloth on her arm before hurrying to the bedside. One look at the weeping woman and the shamed wolf had her blue eyes seething with rage. She glared at Tsume, reaching forward to pop his nose harshly. "What did you do to her, Tsume?"

Tsume recoiled, shaking his head as he fought off a sneeze. "I didn't _mean _to do anything, I just—"

The Queen started coughing violently, interrupting Tsume's half-hearted attempt to defend his actions. Cher gasped and flew to her side, pressing the cloth to the other woman's mouth for the duration of the attack. When it was over, and Cher pulled away, Tsume stood frozen to his spot when he saw the blood on the white cotton. Some was even flecked around the Queen's lips. _What—What is this? _Cher turned to glance at the stunned wolf over her shoulder, still angry but most of it giving way to worry and grief. "She grows worse every day." She murmured softly, so softly that only Tsume had a prayer of hearing her. "I fear that her time is coming."

"She said the Prince's caretakers have passed on." Tsume replied. "Is that the truth?"

Hesitantly, Cher nodded. "We've been receiving messages from Kamiah and her family since I brought the Prince to them. Seven harvests ago, we received word that Kamiah's daughter and her husband had been slain when invading Sinai soldiers stormed Thebes. Kamiah promised to take care of Kiba, even said that he had a little brother to help him through the loss." Tsume nodded slightly at the mention of the brother, his suspicion about Toboe's brother's true identity only strengthening. "We were supposed to receive a message from her a while back, but no message ever came. I went down to Thebes myself to make sure all was well, but when I got there . . . well, Kamiah was dead and the boys were gone."

"Tsume." The Queen murmured before Tsume could respond to Cher. "The boy you met, what was his name?"

Tsume knew without a doubt that she wasn't referring to Hige. "Toboe. The boy's name was Toboe."

"That was the name in Kamiah's letters." Hamona said breathlessly, a small smile on her face as she stared up at Cher. "It's true then, my son is here, in Memphis."

Cher said nothing, and Tsume knew the servant wished nothing more than to box his ears for bringing this up to the Queen when she was in this state. But maybe it could give her the strength to continue on. "Do you wish for him to be brought here?" Cher asked reluctantly.

Hamona's response was instant. "No."

Tsume was perplexed. It was obvious that the woman missed her son something fierce. Why wouldn't she want him brought to her? "I told the people—my husband—that my child died while I was asleep. Bringing him here now would only cause trouble." Hamona continued, coughing again but waving off Cher when she reached out with the soiled cloth. "And imagine what Isis would think, knowing that we all lied to her and never told her that she had a brother out there. If Kiba were here, well, perhaps she wouldn't have to be married off." Cher and Tsume nodded. They both knew Blue well, and she didn't take kindly to being lied to. "Kiba has grown up one with his true nature. Kamiah said he was a natural born leader and had a strong sense of justice. I am certain he and Darcia would not get along."

Tsume could only imagine how painful this must have been for the monarch, openly accepting her husband's evil nature and all the wrong he'd done over the past decade or so. But she didn't look any better. If anything, she looked significantly worse. "I can live knowing that my son is safe." The Queen finished, sounding more like her usual self and not a woman delirious with the pain of her illness. "Tsume, please do this for me. Find my son and make sure he is safe. Do not tell him why you are there or anything about his origins. Do I make myself clear?"

The look in her exhausted violet eyes was one Tsume had seen many a time. It was the look of a mother fiercely devoted to her children, willing and able to do whatever it took to protect them.

The Queen of Egypt might not have been a wolf, but she had the fierce loyalty and determination of one.

Tsume met the woman's gaze evenly, nodding, but inside, his head was spinning. The Prince had a natural instinct to lead and had a sense for justice, if what Kamiah said was true. Egypt was in need of a leader like that, and even if it pained Tsume to admit it, Blue wasn't that leader. She was rash and hasty, quick to anger and resented being told what to do. Maybe someday with proper training, she could overcome her own shortcomings, but there was no time for that. If Egypt was going to see better days, then they needed a new leader. And soon.

"I hear you, Milady." Tsume replied quietly, turning to leave. "I'll do as you say."

Tsume caught Cher's eye before he left, and he knew she was aware of his real intentions. However, she didn't look angry. Only relieved. She could see their future with Kiba as their leader as well.

The grey wolf stalked down the halls, lost in thought, barely remembering to keep himself hidden. A born strategist, a plan was unfolding in his head almost without him realizing it, and by the time he returned to his mother, he was certain they could save Egypt, and the gods had had nothing to do with it. Darcia's reign was coming to an end. And if luck was on Tsume's side, a new leader would rise from the ashes and lead Egypt into a gloriously bright future without needless slaughter.

A boy from the small village of Thebes was going to become Darcia's worst nightmare.

* * *

_A.N. _I feel the need to draw attention to the fact that Tsume is a total mama's boy. That is all.


	8. Chapter 7

_Author's Note: _Sorry for the wait everyone! I haven't left much time to write as of late, but I busted my butt to get this out today. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I hope everyone enjoys their holidays!

* * *

**Chapter 7  
**

* * *

"You'll be fine."

"So you say. But what if the Prince tries to take advantage while I'm unguarded?"

"Blue, be reasonable." Cher said lightly, fiddling with Blue's hair as they walked down the corridors, towards the palace gardens. "You may be meeting in private with the Prince, but there will still be people watching. The gardens are almost never vacant. I would stay with you, if you wished."

Blue considered the offer, but didn't want to seem childish, so instead denied her nursemaid's offer. "That is quite alright, Cher. I suppose I'll have to get used to being alone with Prince Jamal if I'm to be his wife. I just wish Tsume was here."

She really hadn't seen much of her friend since their trip out into the city the previous day, though Blue wasn't terribly concerned. She'd seen Nita – Tsume's mother – earlier in the day, and the servant woman had said that Tsume was going to be with the General and the Lieutenant for the better part of the day. The princess had originally been frightened that Tsume was going to be drafted but had forced herself to forgo the emotions. She and Tsume were going to part soon. His being drafted wouldn't mean much to her in the coming weeks.

But she couldn't help but worry.

Blue had decided herself that today was the day she would meet with her fiancé for the first time since their initial meeting. The dark-haired girl wasn't particularly happy about it, but she knew she couldn't avoid the man forever. The Prince and his father would only wait so long for her to accept what was happening. But some part of her couldn't help but hope that her message hadn't reached Prince Jamal and he wouldn't show up at the gardens.

"Here we are." Cher said, stepping out into the courtyard, glancing down at Blue with a small smile on her face. "I am very proud of you for doing this, Blue. I know you are not yet comfortable with the impending union, but you are handling this like a true noble."

The girl shrugged, bundling her skirts up as she descended the stone steps leading to the gardens, leaving Cher to wave after her. Blue listened to the sound of her footsteps as she walked further into the garden, nose twitching in irritation from all the scents that surrounded her. She hardly ever entered the garden during the time of the harvest, when the flowers were in full-bloom and the odors could be smelt even from her balcony on the other side of the palace. But she knew she was the only one in the palace aside from her father that was plagued by the overbearing smell of the flowers. As wolves, their sense of smell was stronger than a normal human's, or so her father had told her when she was younger. It was an extreme annoyance, especially when Blue acquired headaches from the thousands of merging scents.

Blue sneezed as she sat down on a cobblestone bench near a patch of lotus flowers, blinking away the water that appeared in her eyes. "I should have protested when Cher suggested we meet in the garden." She said aloud, irritated. "How can I possibly hold a conversation when I'm sneezing every minute?"

"Princess Isis?"

Blue jumped when a voice sounded from the direction she'd come, glancing up with a feeling of dread settling low in her stomach. She'd hoped Prince Jamal wouldn't come to meet her so soon. The blond-haired prince of Sinai approached her carefully, and she could see the uncertainty in his emerald gaze even though he was probably trying to hide it. "I apologize if I made you wait." The prince stated as Blue stood in greeting. Her nerves weren't going to make her forget everything she'd learn about propriety. "My father and I were discussing something when I received your summons."

"Tis no need for apologies, I have not been here long." Blue replied, gesturing for her companion to take a seat beside her. She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth gingerly, stifling another sneeze as the two of them got comfortable.

Blue wasn't about to wait for the situation to become trying, so instead of waiting for her betrothed to speak, she began with what was on her mind. "I would like to apologize for my behavior these past few days." She felt the prince glance over at her. "Twas highly inappropriate of me. I was just – "

"Caught off-guard?" Prince Jamal supplied when she paused, searching for a way to describe to him how she'd felt without getting into too much detail. "I do not blame you, Princess. If we had known you were not previously informed, my father wouldn't have brought it up so casually that day."

"Tis not Lord Abhi's fault." Blue sighed. If anyone was at fault, it was her own father. She still couldn't understand why he hadn't informed her of her union with the Prince before they had arrived at the palace. It would've saved everyone from the worry and stress that had been commonplace throughout the palace for the past week or so. What had her father possibly gained by keeping it a secret from her? "I have always known that one day I would be wed, but I never imagined that the day would come so soon."

"I understand." The Prince replied, twirling the head of a lotus flower that Blue hadn't even noticed he'd grabbed in his hands. She took the moment to observe him, the firm line of his jaw, how his chin and cheeks were covered with barely noticeable blond hairs, and how there were the beginnings of dark circles underneath his emerald eyes from lack of sleep. She wondered, feeling guilty, if perhaps she had caused that. "My father never really showed much interest in finding me a wife until the Pharaoh contacted him with this plan for a treaty a month or so ago. Up until that point, he'd been trying to convince my eldest brother to marry the Queen of Bernike."

Blue stiffened. The Queen of Bernike? _Aunt Jaguara. _Her mother's sister had been fearlessly leading the kingdom by the sea for many years now without a husband, and it was well known in all the kingdoms that Lady Jaguara wasn't looking for a man to rule beside her. Was Lord Abhi asking for trouble by trying to arrange a marriage for his son with her aunt? "Is the Queen considering the union?"

The young man chuckled. "Not in the slightest. My father won't give up though. My brother doesn't really want a wife much."

"If he is older than you, then is he not the heir to the throne?"

"He was, but – " Prince Jamal paused, worrying the petals of the lotus between his fingers. "Well, something happened and now he's no longer allowed to assume the throne. My parents decided on me instead of one of my older sisters because I was a male."

Blue nodded but didn't say a word. She was curious about what may have occurred for a king to even consider disowning his eldest son, but she wouldn't press the issue, or at least not today. If she was to be apart of this family, then she wanted to know everything. "Do you have any siblings, Princess?" The young man asked suddenly, sitting up straight to look over at her with a small smile on his face. "I regretfully admit that I don't know much about the Darcia family."

"It's quite alright. We Darcia's are a rather secretive sort. No, I don't have any brothers or sisters. My parents tried and failed for many years before they managed to conceive me. So, I've always been rather sheltered. No one wanted anything bad to happen to me."

"It must've been lonely." The green-eyed prince said sympathetically. "I have two brothers and two sisters, and I may not be the youngest, but they all enjoy teasing me. Even so, I couldn't imagine life without them."

"Tis hard to think about things you have never had." Blue said with a slight shrug. "The only thing I have that even came close to a brother is my guard, Tsume."

"Are the two of you close?"

"As close as a princess and her guard can be." She replied carefully, glancing at her companion out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't trying to make him jealous, nor did she wish some rift between him and Tsume. But Prince Jamal didn't seem bitter, only genuinely interested. "He is practically the only friend I have."

"I'd like to be your friend, if you'd let me." The prince said soon after, and Blue glanced at him in shock. Weren't they supposed to be more than just friends? "I know we're supposed to be wed, but I think there should be more. What monument can last without a base to stand on?" At Blue's incredulous look, the prince chuckled, suddenly looking nervous. "I mean, that's what my mother always says."

"So you wish to become friends before we get married?" Blue asked slowly, making sure she understood him correctly.

When he nodded, she couldn't help but smile. So far, this prince she'd found herself betrothed to was sweet and wasn't planning on forcing her into anything too soon – aside from the marriage, but neither of them could get out of that. _Perhaps this won't be so bad. _"I would like that very much, my Prince." She replied with a small smile.

"Please, just call me Jamal."

"Only if you agree to call me Isis."

Jamal grinned, offering her a hand, and despite everything she'd been taught growing up, she grasped it and shook it firmly. Their first deal as a betrothed couple.

Blue found that it wasn't necessarily earth shattering.

The two royals glanced further into the garden when voices began to drift to where they sat, and after a few moments two figures appeared behind a row of exceptionally tall sunflowers. The younger of the two noticed them right away, pausing in his stroll to regard the pair. "Good day, Princess Isis. Prince Jamal."

"Good day, Lieutenant Hubb." She responded in kind, blue eyes darting over to Hubb's companion. "Good day, General Yaiden."

The gruff man hardly glanced in her direction and continued on his way, though he did leave a parting grunt in response to her greeting. The Lieutenant chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "Excuse him, Princess. The lack of fighting is getting to the old man. He does not know what to do with himself, what with the ceasefire."

Blue nodded, glancing over at Jamal, who was doing the same with a grim look on his face. She realized that Sinai must have lost civilians and shoulders just as Egypt had, though for some reason she couldn't bring herself to sympathize much. With a reluctant sigh, Blue realized she'd have to learn to think of the people of Sinai as her own soon. "Lieutenant, are you almost through with Tsume? I wish to speak with him before the sun gets too high in the sky."

"Tsume?" Hubb said, face contorting in confusion. "I haven't seen an inkling of him in a few days. Was he supposed to come meet with us today?"

Blue stared at the man, flabbergasted. "I was told he'd be spending the morning with you and the General."

"Well, we haven't seen him, Princess. I'll make sure to tell him you wish to have a word with him if I do, however."

"Oh . . . well, thank you, Lieutenant."

The man bowed to the both of them before quickening his pace to follow after the General, leaving Blue feeling both confused and suspicious.

Cher had told her that Tsume would be with the leaders of her father's militia for the morning. Either Cher had lied to her, or Tsume was disregarding his duties, which didn't seem likely.

She and Jamal struck conversation again, talking idly about the happenings of their respective countries, but Blue's heart wasn't in it any longer. She would deal with her betrothed in full later, but at the moment, her mind was elsewhere.

If Tsume wasn't with General Yaiden and Lieutenant Hubb, then where was he?

* * *

"I'm bored. Entertain me."

"That's not what I'm being paid to do. And how can you focus on your boredom on a hot day like this?"

Hige shrugged, hefting a sack of grain over his shoulder and walking past Kiba to the cart behind them. "I'm used to it by now, unlike you. You must've lived an easy life up in Thebes."

Kiba snorted at the notion. "If you call being the village healer easy. It's a surprise I never contracted serious illnesses what with all the villagers I helped treat."

"Damn, maybe you should have." At Kiba's disturbed glance, Hige began to laugh, tossing the sack of grain into the cart without even looking. "You could've contracted the plague and passed it on to the Pharaoh. Take one for the country, you know?"

Kiba shook his head sharply, sapphire eyes darting towards the guard that was standing entirely too close to them. Hige noticed the action and shrugged. "Ah, he can't hear us. Deaf in one ear and partially in the other, that one. I could threaten his life and he wouldn't even blink."

"Still." Kiba said, eyeing the guard warily. It was going to take some time to get used to the way Hige handled things. He didn't seem concerned with his safety at all. Not for the first time, Kiba wondered – albeit a little guiltily – if perhaps being with Hige wasn't what was best for his and Toboe's survival. But Kiba was actually becoming rather fond of Hige, quirks and all. Not that he'd ever say so to the other laborer. This whole arrangement was only temporary, after all. "You never know who could be listening."

Hige laughed, and Kiba jolted forward as the other boy clapped him firmly on the back as he passed, having been caught off guard. "Has anyone ever told you that you should join the militia? You're paranoid enough to survive a war."

Kiba was silent for a moment, tilting his gaze up towards the sky. "I could never do that."

"Why not? The pay's good. My father makes more in two weeks than we do in a day!"

Kiba shook his head with a slight smile, closing his eyes. Hige couldn't possibly understand. How could Kiba explain that he hated the military not only for its servitude to the Pharaoh, but also its roll in his parents' deaths? The war with Sinai had escalated to dangerous levels, and Egypt's militia had failed to protect its own. Thebes had been open to attack, a small village left with no able-bodied men to protect it after the drafting took place.

As blue eyes scanned the crowded streets before them, the cheerful faces morphed into frightened ones, stained with blood and consumed by terror. Houses going up in flames, children being separated from their parents, Sinai soldiers with blond hair and green eyes swinging their battle axes and swords without looking to see where they hit. Kiba remembered it all, how he'd held the child he'd helped to deliver close during the invasion in a house that wasn't his own, while his grandmother and the father of the child tried to save the mother, who in the end died of blood loss. A new life was precious, but didn't make up for those who had been lost that day.

The child Kiba had coddled while thinking of his own sibling – a tiny girl of three, by then named Hamila - had died a few years after. Cobra bite. Dead within moments.

"Toboe still needs me." Kiba replied instead, ignoring the carnage that was still fresh in his mind. "What good am I to him wandering the desert looking for unforeseen enemies?"

"You two aren't apart much, are you?" Hige inquired, though it sounded more like a statement than a question.

"We're all the other has." Kiba sighed, forcing himself to follow after Hige when the nearly deaf guard glanced in their direction. After missing the past few workdays, Kiba wasn't quick to get on anyone's bad side. Jou had already gotten on their backs about it when they'd shown up earlier in the morning, though Kiba had noticed how Jou was really only speaking directly to Hige. "No one's too keen to let go of the only family member they have left, I'm sure."

Hige chuckled lowly, his eyes darkening with something that Kiba immediately recognized as remembrance. "I know what you mean. Took me a long time to get over how my old man just up and left me. Didn't even leave a note, you know? Nita was the one who came and told me about what happened. Bastard had me worried sick."

_Nita._ If Kiba remembered correctly – and he hardly remembered anything while in one of his migraine-induced hazes – she was the mother of Tsume, who Kiba had learned was a wolf who worked beneath the Pharaoh. Bile rose in the back of Kiba's throat just thinking about it. He still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that someone like him could do such a thing. It was obvious to him that this Tsume character held no ounce of respect for wolves.

It would probably be in the palace guard's best interests if he and Kiba never crossed paths.

"But I got over it." Hige was still talking, hefting another sack over his shoulder as Kiba made a move to grab one himself. "My dad always did have trouble expressing himself, saying what he really wanted to say. Truth is, he's hardly even looked at me in all the time I've been alive."

"Don't think he doesn't care." Kiba murmured without really thinking about it. "Never take a loved one for granted."

Kiba wished someone would've said something similar to him many years ago, back when he viewed Toboe as a mere annoyance that would never be removed. How naive and childish he'd been then, staring down his nose at Toboe from the safety of their mother's arms. All the boy did was giggle at the faces their father made, or stare blankly at the wall before bursting into tears. Kiba knew now that his brother had been seeing things, even as a baby, and Kiba had had no right to think him mad or abnormal. Kiba had taken Toboe for granted until the day of the invasion, when the younger's safety had been the blue-eyed boy's one and only concern once the fires had been put out.

Now Toboe was all he had. And Kiba thanked the gods for him everyday.

"Eh, he likes me enough to send a sack of coins every once in a while." Hige said with a shrug, smirking. "Not that I need the help. I've done pretty well for myself so far, don't you agree?"

Kiba grinned right back at his companion, because in the company of a boy as confident and cocky as Hige, who wouldn't smile?

"You two!"

Hige and Kiba stiffened as a voice sounded from the doorway, and when they turned they were face to face with the deaf guard in charge of them for the day. "Yes, sir?" Hige replied, which Kiba might have found hilarious if only the growl he could feel rumbling in his throat would go away.

"You've been excused from your duties for the remainder of the day." Kiba noticed how the man spoke unnecessarily loud, like he couldn't hear his own voice. "There's someone who wishes to speak with you."

"Speak with us?" Kiba echoed, growing increasingly anxious with every passing second. Already he was planning an escape, wondering if he could take the guard out without making a single sound. "Who is it?"

But the man simply turned and left. Kiba huffed, and Hige laughed, though he sounded nervous. "Like I said, can't hear a thing."

Neither of them moved for a few moments, Hige grinding his teeth either in thought or because of his nerves, while Kiba prepared himself for a fight. What if their secret had been exposed? What if the Princess had turned them in? Toboe was safe at Hige's, but who was going to warn him of the danger? "Come on." Hige said eventually, tugging on Kiba's elbow. "It may be nothing."

"You're delusional if you think this is nothing!" Kiba retorted as he allowed Hige to drag him from the building and out into the light.

Kiba glanced around, trying to distinguish any newcomers from the crowd, anyone that might look the least bit intimidating, but the only difference Kiba could find made Hige stiffen when he pointed it out.

The partially deaf guard was speaking to a boy that looked no older than Kiba or Hige. His hair was unusual, so light in color Kiba was forced to call it grey, and his eyes reminded Kiba of the sand dunes when the sun set in the sky. Kiba noticed how defined his muscles looked, both visible and nonvisible, and an impressive-looking sword was strapped to his side. Kiba's eyes widened upon further inspection when he noticed the seal on the hilt of the sword.

A cobra with a crook within its coils.

The seal of the Pharaoh.

"I'm not going with him." Kiba hissed under his breath, fire, caterwauls of war, and the sound of a baby's first wail coming to mind. "Do what you will, I'm taking Toboe and—"

"Shut up, would you?" Hige snapped back just as quietly. "Don't lose your head when you don't know what's going to happen. Besides, that guy won't do anything to us."

"Why the hell are you so confident?"

"Are you stupid? He's one of us!"

Kiba blinked, staring at Hige as if he'd lost his mind before turning his head slowly only to find that the unusual golden eyes were staring right back at him.

The name came to him instantly. Tsume. The wolf who worked under the Pharaoh's daughter.

This time, he couldn't help it. The growl that escaped Kiba was soft and quiet, hardly noticeable, though Kiba noticed how Tsume straightened, one eyebrow lifting as he stared at Kiba. Hige sighed beside him. "I can't take you anywhere."

"Come along then." Tsume called to them, taking a step back without tearing his gaze away from Kiba's. "I'd like to have a word with the two of you."

The other workers were staring as Kiba and Hige made their way forward like a couple of whipped dogs, though their expressions were emotionless. Kiba noticed Jou's smirk, how the man waved to the two of them as they followed Tsume away from the marketplace as if he thought they were going to be executed.

Kiba hardly paid him any attention, however, focusing firmly on the back of Tsume's head. For the life of him, he couldn't understand why the other wolf was seeking them out. The blue-eyed boy had decided to stay calm and not to react badly as he'd almost done back at the market. He normally didn't react so impulsively. _I won't allow Tsume to get the better of me. _

When they'd finally left the busiest part of town, Kiba was forced to stop by a firm hand on the back of his tunic. Hige was frowning, yanking an indignant Kiba back to stand beside him. "Alright, Tsume, we've gone far enough. If you're gonna kill us with that fancy sword of yours, then do it now."

Tsume paused, standing with his back to the both of them for a few tense moments before turning around. The smirk on his face upset Kiba for some reason. "Now why would I do that, Whiskers? Imagine the mess you would make."

Surprisingly, Hige laughed, releasing his hold on Kiba's tunic. "Oh, I get it now. You're Off Duty Tsume. Well, what is it you want? We have work to do, you know."

Tsume's smirk disappeared. "There's something we have to discuss. It couldn't wait."

Hige whistled lowly. "Must be serious. Did Isis get lost? Need me to sniff her out?"

"While your sense of smell may be the strongest in the nation, Isis isn't the lost one." Tsume replied. Kiba felt oddly out of place amidst their conversation, and the familiarity with which the two were speaking made Kiba question Hige all over again. It was starting to get tedious.

"If you have something to say, then say it." Kiba said flatly, unamused with the banter.

Tsume regarded him in surprise, looking Kiba up and down as if seeing him for the first time. "You're pretty puny considering you're on your fifteenth harvest."

Kiba was too caught off guard by the comment to even respond. Nonetheless, Hige grabbed hold of Kiba's arm tightly, saying, "Tsume, don't. Come on, let's continue this at my house."

It took the entire walk to Hige's home for Kiba to remember why taking Tsume there was a terrible idea.

Toboe opened the door before they reached it, probably having heard their approach. The smile that was on his face almost tore Kiba apart inside as he watched it vanish when Toboe noticed that he and Hige weren't alone. If everything went sour, Kiba had once again failed to keep his brother safe.

"Nice to see you again, kid." Tsume said shortly as he brushed past Toboe's still form in the doorway. "Feeling better, I see?"

Hige shrugged apologetically at Toboe before following Tsume inside, and then wide brown eyes turned to Kiba. "Everything's fine." Kiba murmured, ushering his brother back into the house and closing the door behind them. "He just wanted to talk with us."

"Talking can get out of hand." Toboe whispered, looking sick as he took hold of Kiba's hand, squeezing his fingers tightly. "This is my fault."

Kiba would've liked to deny his brother's claim, but Tsume and Hige were looking at him expectantly, so he settled on clinging tightly to Toboe's hand instead. "What's this about?" Kiba demanded, glancing at both Tsume and Hige, whom Kiba was certain knew something about what was happening. He seemed way too calm considering their predicament. "Or is frightening civilians with your mere presence part of your job?"

"That tongue of yours will get you nowhere in life." Tsume replied solemnly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Tell me; what is your name?"

"Kiba, Son of Selim." It had been a long time – far too long a time – since Kiba had spoken his father's name aloud. Toboe made an odd noise in the back of his throat but otherwise stayed silent. "What business is it of yours?"

The look Tsume directed at him was almost sympathetic. To Kiba, it promised bad things to come. "I have come here for a reason, and I will not try to hide that reason from you. I am in dire need of your help."

"With what?"

"It's a complicated matter. I must explain a great deal for you to understand what it is I want from you."

When no one said anything, Tsume began his tale. "Fifteen years ago, a few days before the night of the Massacre, Queen Hamona gave birth to a child. A son. But in order to protect the child from the Pharaoh, she gave the boy to a servant girl and ordered her to take the child away from Memphis to somewhere he'd be safe. As you can probably tell, Darcia's rule in Egypt hasn't been a righteous one. There's wind of a revolt against the throne to overthrow him. But Isis cannot rule in Darcia's place, being a female. And she is not the rightful heir. I've been sent to recover the lost prince so he may assume the throne once Darcia has been dealt with."

Kiba regarded Tsume with doubt. "Are you telling me that there's a giant conspiracy going on within the palace that the Queen gave birth to a son and gave him up? And you believe in this rubbish? And any wind of a revolt is just as false as the claim of another Darcia child. You may not know what goes on considering your lifestyle, but the people have been crushed enough as it is. There's no spirit left for revolt." His grip on Toboe's hand tightened. "Trust me.

"And what could I possibly do to help you, even if what you're saying is true?" The blue-eyed boy continued. "I know nothing of a lost prince, and I could only assume no one else does either. For that matter, how would you get anyone to believe you?"

"The country isn't as devastated as you seem to believe." Tsume retorted, a flash of irritation appearing in his eyes. Kiba noticed something else as well. Was it . . . disappointment? Disgust? "As for the prince, well – "

Tsume paused, glancing over at Hige who was standing off to the side, watching the exchange but not participating. Kiba noticed how apprehensive the other seemed to be, how Hige looked away quickly when he and Kiba made eye contact. Kiba and Toboe may have been completely in the dark about this entire situation, but Hige seemed to be aware of what was going to happen, of everything that was going to be said.

"I was almost a year old when the prince was born." Tsume began once more, drawing Kiba's attention back to the other wolf. "I don't remember much, but my memory is slightly better than a normal human's since I am also a Messenger." Kiba stiffened, failing to notice how Toboe's hand slipped from his own. "A day or so after the Prince was born, my mother took me to see him. I was supposed to be his protector, to follow him like a shadow as I do for the Princess now. I may not remember much about that time in my life, but I recall this first encounter as if it happened yesterday. The boy didn't cry, didn't utter a single sound in all the time I spent with him that day, only stared at me in a way that suggested he was waiting for something, watching every move I made. He had hair as dark as night, eyes as blue as sapphires, and on his right shoulder was a birthmark in the shape of a crescent moon."

Tsume paused, watching as Kiba reached up slowly with his left arm to grasp at his right shoulder tightly. The spot where the blue-eyed boy knew his mark lay suddenly seemed to burn. "It marks those who have it as members of the royal family." The palace guard finished. "And judging by the look on your face, I am assuming you possess knowledge of who may bear this mark."

"It's a scar." _It never did look like a scar . . . _

"In the exact shape of a crescent moon? Are you really that gullible?"

"I lived in Thebes my whole life." _No one ever spoke of the day I was born._

"Can you really remember that far back? You were only a few days old when your mother, Hamona, sent you away."

"My mother's name was Adita. She – She was a _healer_." _She always called me her littler protector. _

"I'm sure she, her husband, and Kamiah loved you very much."

"I – "

"Kiba, stop it." Kiba sucked in a breath when Toboe spoke softly from beside him. Slowly, the elder boy turned to look at the person he'd always thought to be his brother. Toboe wasn't looking at him but was staring at Tsume, the expression in his brown eyes unreadable. That alone was enough to jostle Kiba out of his stupor, for he always knew what his younger sibling was thinking. "Don't let your denial blind you. Seek out the truth, not run from it."

Kiba would've laughed if he'd had the state of mind for it. Toboe always tended to say the most unusually helpful things when in the face of disaster. But his brother's calm demeanor was setting Kiba on edge. Wasn't he bothered by any of this at all?

"Whether you wish to believe it or not, Kiba, you are the eldest son of Pharaoh Darcia and Queen Hamona." Tsume said firmly, stretching out a hand towards Kiba. Whether the boy wanted him to shake it or not was a mystery to Kiba, but the nonchalance with which Tsume was speaking to him infuriated Kiba more than anything. "You're the crowned prince of Egypt, and your country is in need of your help."

"I don't care."

The words were rushed and clipped and hardly pondered over, but Kiba couldn't help it. It was the truth really. In the face of the truth, now that all the lies he'd been told had been brought to light, Kiba couldn't care less about the fate of a nation riddled with warfare and deceit.

"Why should I?" Kiba demanded. "If what you're saying is true, then I was given up for a reason, was I not? If I were truly needed, I wouldn't have been sent to Thebes. Why are you suddenly in need of _my _help?"

"The Queen sent you away to save your life!" Tsume snapped, hands balling into fists at his sides. "The Pharaoh hates wolves; he was going to try to purify you and if that didn't work, he would've _killed _you! Hamona did what she did to save you, to make sure you had a bright future. It's your duty to protect your – "

"_My _duty?" Kiba shouted, placing a hand on his chest and taking one step forward. "My duty is to protect myself and my brother and nothing more. This country's never done anything for me, only gotten my parents murdered!"

"Those were matters out of their h – "

"Like Hell it was out of their hands! No one cared about Thebes, a small village downstream of the Nile with no true importance to the throne. When Sinai attacked, all our men were fighting out in the desert for the _Pharaoh, _and there was no one left to defend our village_. _We were vulnerable, we were weak, and no one helped us out of that carnage. We had to fend for ourselves! If the Queen really is my mother and knew I lived in Thebes, why was help not sent? We struggle to survive everyday while you sit in the palace pampered and content. I don't want that life, and I want nothing to do with anyone who does."

Kiba didn't realize he had moved until he was nose to nose with Tsume, fisting the other boy's tunic in a trembling fist and yanking him forward until they were almost nose-to-nose, snarling in his face. "I don't owe you, the Queen, or _anyone _else anything, and I refuse to risk the safety of what little family I have left to save those who abandoned me as an infant. Find someone else to lead your uprising, because I am not that man!"

Before now, all Kiba had wanted was to see the day Darcia would be overthrown so wolves could live in peace with the humans of the land. But now all he knew was the betrayal he felt, how disgusted and horrified he was that – if what Tsume was saying was true – he was the son of the tyrant he'd so hated growing up. Kiba had been tossed aside like spoiled meat and was only being called upon to be _used _as a piece in some game.

And Kiba refused to let anyone determine his fate.

Tsume stared down at Kiba coldly – being a little bit taller than the livid laborer – and then closed his eyes with a harsh sigh, gripping Kiba's wrist and yanking his tightly curled fingers out of his tunic. "I came here today expecting to find an optimistic man who wanted what was best for his country, but it seems as if I was wrong. All I see is a bitter child blinded by the hardships of his past."

Kiba would've punched the other wolf if it weren't for Hige, who placed himself in-between the two feuding boys when Tsume began to reach for his sword, having seen the rage in Kiba's blue eyes. "Tsume, you should go." He said quietly. "I won't be able to stop Kiba from tearing you apart if you keep goading him. Our secret needs to stay intact. Leave before you upset Kiba and Toboe more than you already have."

"Gladly." Tsume growled, knocking into Kiba's shoulder – the one with the birthmark – as he passed. "I shan't waste my time here any longer."

Sharp canines dug into Kiba's cheek as Tsume left the dwelling, forcing the young man to realize how close he'd come to losing control as copper-flavored liquid spilled on his tongue. Kiba hardly ever took on wolf features when he was human, though it seemed his fangs would come out when he got overly heated. The blue-eyed laborer took a few calming breathes, waiting for a few moments before his teeth returned to normal.

Now that Tsume was gone, Kiba could think clearly, but his thoughts just wouldn't slow down. He hardly knew what was up and what was down anymore, but the one thing he could realize was that he needed to make sure Toboe was okay. Kiba turned, ignoring Hige for now to glance back at his brother, but stopped short, his heart stalling.

Toboe's brown eyes were blown impossibly wide, and the look on his face was one of pure horror. His back stiffened as his gaze shifted from Kiba to Hige and back again, looking like he might cry. Kiba felt heartsick. "Toboe – " He began, but the younger only recoiled, and when Kiba blinked next, the boy was gone, slamming the door impossibly loud behind him as he fled from the house.

Silence became commonplace after Toboe slammed out of the dwelling, leaving Kiba trembling under the force of his fury and despair. He wanted to call out to his brother – was he even allowed to call Toboe that now? – but his voice had left him. Now it was all beginning to process. Everything he'd been told growing up, everything he thought he knew was a lie. He was the son of the Pharaoh? The true heir to the throne? Kiba didn't want to believe it, but the more he thought about it, the more things made sense.

He'd never looked like his parents or his grandmother. Selim and Adita both had had dark brown hair and equally brown eyes, as had Kamiah in her younger days. Kiba hadn't noticed it as a child, had never questioned it once he had grown, for he'd never had a reason to. They'd never hinted that he wasn't truly a part of their family and he'd only been brought to them in a desperate attempt to save his life, but then again, why would they? Had they been worried Kiba would become like Darcia if he'd been told of his true origins?

The thought that the only family he'd ever known had been terrified of him was enough to bring tears to Kiba's eyes.

The distraught royal spun around when he felt a hand on his shoulder, releasing a feral snarl that surprised even him. Hige recoiled, retracting his hand with a worried look on his face. "Kiba – "

"You knew!" Kiba spat, taking a step back, remembering how oddly Hige had acted earlier. "You knew from the moment you met me, didn't you? Was this whole thing a ploy? A way to get me to be the leader you need for your revolt?"

"It wasn't like that." Hige replied, allowing his hand to fall back to his side. "There's always been wind of a revolt, and Tsume and I have been part of the discussions for years now. But we needed someone to take Darcia's place if we won, and I thought – hoped – that maybe you could be that person. I mean . . . I had my suspicions at first. I'd been told about you – the prince – since I was a kid. I wasn't certain until I saw your birthmark for the first time though. Kiba . . . I know you don't want to hear it, but no one's playing you false. I wouldn't lie to you."

Kiba glared at Hige, reaching up to grasp his shoulder at the reminder of the mark that would always be a sign that this wasn't just an awful dream. "You bastard, you took us in because you wanted to use us. You did lie to me. To me _and _Toboe."

At the thought of the absent twelve-year-old, all fight began to slowly leave Kiba's body. Even if Toboe was frightened of him now, Kiba refused to leave him. The thought was unthinkable. Brothers or not, the two of them were all the other had, and someone had to protect Toboe, a Seer still uncomfortable in his abilities. With everything crumbling around him, Kiba couldn't bear it if he lost Toboe as well, the only person he loved who loved him in return. "What if he doesn't come back?" Kiba murmured.

Hige blinked, probably relieved that most of the rage had seemed to leave Kiba's body. "He will. Toboe may be in shock for a while, but he'll come back to you, I know it."

The other paused, matching Kiba's incredulous, untrusting stare evenly. "You know, I see brothers out on the streets all the time, and none of them act like you and Toboe do. They fight with one another, yell at each other. They love each other, sure, but that natural sibling resentment is there. But not with the two of you. You guys lean on one another, it's where you draw your strength from. Toboe will come back, if not for you, then for me. I'll have to deal with your cranky arse until he comes back to set you straight."

Kiba snorted, succeeding in fighting back the smile that threatened to overtake his face. He'd really liked Hige up until that point, but now he wasn't sure where the two of them stood. It still stood true that Hige had deceived him, even if it had been for pure intentions. Kiba's trust had been placed in the wrong people too many times to count, and now he was reluctant to let this cheerful laborer back in.

The young man might have been unwilling to accept the fact that he was of royal blood, but maybe – just maybe – with time, Kiba would be willing to trust in Hige.

But the fact still remained that there were whispers of an uprising in the nation, and Kiba had to decide whether to stay or go. Fight or surrender. Accept or deny the truth.

And for a change, Kiba had no direction.


	9. Chapter 8

_Author's Note: _As you know, I took a break from this story for while, just for some variety. The story I was working on is pretty much finished, so I'm back to working on this one. This chapter is short, but I was transitioning back into the Wolf's Rain universe and I figured this chapter would make you all think for a few moments. Next time, actual plot stuff with happen – not that this isn't important to the plot, because it is – and hopefully it'll be longer. It's a couple thousand words as of now, and I'm hoping to expand it.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed in my absence!

* * *

**Chapter 8**

* * *

Night had fallen, and Toboe had yet to return.

Kiba stayed awake long after Hige went to sleep, watching the door with blue eyes that pierced through the dark, just waiting for it to creak open. Toboe was certain to be guilty when he returned. He'd never liked worrying Kiba.

Nimble fingers traced idly over the birthmark on Kiba's shoulder. The boy had noticed how the skin wasn't raised, yet another sign that the mark had indeed been apart of his body since his birth. Kiba had started wondering about his life before the sun went down, though he'd been much too afraid to delve too deep into whatever mysteries his past held at the time. He'd been too focused on Toboe, anxiously awaiting his adoptive brother's return so they could discuss everything that had occurred earlier in detail, perhaps even sort through whatever had caused the younger boy to run from the house. But Kiba had been left to his own devices for too long, and now he couldn't help but think –

What if?

What if he hadn't been sent away as an infant? Would he be content living in the palace with his real family, unaware of the hardships the Egyptians had to face? Kiba wondered how he would've felt about the Pharaoh if he had raised him, if he would still be able to see the error in the man's ways even as those around him tried to convince him otherwise.

Kiba wondered about the Queen, if she'd thought of him at all in the years since his birth. No matter how hard he tried, the wolf couldn't find it in himself to remain angry with her. He believed Tsume had been telling the truth when the guard said Hamona had done it to save him. If it weren't for her, Kiba probably would've been killed long ago. Kiba would've liked to thank her, someday, but he knew it was a reality far from his reach. There was no possible way he could ever come within speaking distance of the woman, not that he would even if the option arose. His instincts and own self-doubt would keep him away, never allow him to make amends with his past.

But Kiba couldn't help but think how nice it would have been if he could perhaps sit down with the woman one day and discuss his past, ask her the questions that had arose within him when Tsume came to speak with him. He was curious as to what day he'd been born, if he'd caused the Queen too much pain, if she'd loved him just as fiercely as Adita once had. Another part of his brain, one less welcome, wondered if the Pharaoh had ever come to see him.

He certainly hoped not.

These thoughts were traitorous, Kiba knew, but he was only a man, as Hige liked to proclaim, so he could allow himself this moment of weakness. The fifteen-year-old had always been curious and intuitive, over-analyzed things far more than was necessary, but he couldn't help it.

Kiba would've liked to say without a doubt that even if he'd been raised as a prince he would still see error in the Pharaoh's – he still refused to call Darcia "Father" – ways, but the more he thought on it, the more Kiba realized he just couldn't do it.

And therein laid his problem.

Kiba didn't trust himself with these thoughts. He couldn't say for sure that the person he was now would still have come to be had he stayed with his true family. If he hadn't been sent to Selim and Adita, would he be every bit the tyrant the Pharaoh was? That seed of self-doubt had embedded itself in Kiba's mind, and now, alone in the darkness, he had no choice but to confront it. It frightened him, that tiny bit of uncertainty that refused to leave Kiba to his peace. But what scared him more was the thought that the Pharaoh's blood ran through his veins; it was pulsing underneath his skin even now, taunting him.

Through Kiba, Darcia had a legacy.

It was enough to make Kiba sick.

The Messenger sighed, bowing his head and allowing the fringe of his hair to cover his eyes, cloaking the tormented sapphire irises in darkness. So much had changed in so little time. It was all happening too quickly for Kiba, who really only wanted to settle down and live a normal life with his brother – as normal a life as they could have, anyway – and try to move on from the deaths of their mother, father, and grandmother.

_Well, Toboe's mother, father, and grandmother,_ Kiba mused, finally letting his hand fall from his shoulder. _I was merely a guest. _

Kiba scolded himself for the thought as soon as he registered it. He may not have been their legitimate kin, but Selim, Adita, and Kamiah had loved him, of that he was certain. You couldn't fake that kind of devotion, and Kiba had honestly never felt more loved or appreciated than when he was with them. All three of them had done Kiba a great kindness, and even if he wasn't their legitimate kin, Kiba would always love them and would never forget everything they had done for him.

Instincts kicked in when Kiba heard the faint sound of something brushing against the door, and the boy looked up, watching with bated breath as the door slowly opened, revealing a rather bedraggled-looking Toboe. Kiba's first instinct was to get up and go to the younger boy, but he stayed perfectly still, watching his brother carefully.

Something wasn't right.

Toboe was looking straight into the dwelling, eyes wide and alert, though Kiba could tell the boy wasn't actually seeing anything. Those familiar brown eyes darted, trembled in their sockets, paying witness to something that Kiba would never see. His brother was lost in a vision, but this time was different. Toboe was normally asleep when these things happened, and if he wasn't then he would pass out shortly after or during the episode. But Toboe was standing upright, was even beginning to move further into the house, shutting the door quietly behind him. He was dead to the world but still participating in it.

Kiba sat on the bed and waited patiently for the moment to cease, but as time passed, he grew increasingly worried. Nothing was changing. Toboe had yet to come closer, standing on the rug a few paces away from Hige, who was still unaware of the boy's return, still snoring peacefully. "Toboe?" Kiba said eventually. "Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

Toboe stilled, lifting his eyes to look at Kiba fully. There was no recognition whatsoever. "What would you do for love?"

Perplexed, Kiba said nothing for a moment, staring at his brother as if he'd lost his mind. "What would I do for – Toboe, are you feeling alright? You're not making much sense."

"Would you fight or give up?" Kiba doubted Toboe was even listening to him at this point. "A lesser man would not know. But you, Kiba; you do."

"Brother – "

"For me, would you fight?" Toboe demanded, and for a moment, Kiba wondered if it was really his younger brother speaking to him. Toboe was never this forceful, this demanding. He'd figure out what he wanted to know, but he would do it in a calmer manner. What was happening to him? "Would you go to the far ends of the world and back if it meant helping me?"

"I would do anything for you, you know that." Kiba replied lowly, wondering with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach if this had anything to do with his ties to the royal family.

But Toboe relaxed then, a small, satisfied sort of smile on his face. For some peculiar reason, it sent a shiver up Kiba's spine. "Then it is decided."

Kiba could only stare. "What's decided – "

His question was cut off as Toboe, as if a support system that had been holding him up this entire time was brutally ripped away, slumped to the ground beside Hige's slumbering form, startling the wolf into awareness with a yelp of surprise. "What the – "

Kiba was up instantly, crouching beside his heavily panting brother, gripping his slender biceps in a vice-like grip. "Toboe! Are you all right?"

Toboe groaned, blinking a few times before glancing up at Kiba tiredly. "Brother?"

"What in the name of Ra was that?" Hige demanded, the fur on the back of his neck lying flat as he realized they were in no real danger. "And where have you been? Do you know what time it is?"

Obviously confused, Toboe glanced at the window. "But I – I started to come back before the sun had set."

"The sun set _hours _ago." Hige declared, pushing himself into a sitting position before transforming back into a human, running his fingers through his hair with a small sigh of exasperation. "We waited for you for a long time."

"Don't you remember?" Kiba asked quietly, the urgent tone of his voice catching both Toboe's and Hige's attention. Visions might have been normal when it came to Toboe, but there was nothing familiar about what had just happened. Toboe had been detached, cold even. If Kiba didn't know any better, he'd say his younger brother had been possessed. But that was impossible. Toboe didn't mess around with black magic or demonic entities. It didn't make any sense. "You came in and started asking me strange questions. You were – You were _very _far away from here."

Toboe blinked, realization crossing his face. Hige looked confused, as was expected. "I was? But I don't remember anything." Glancing over at Hige, he added, "I swear I started to come back not long after I'd left."

"Why'd you leave in the first place, Toboe?" Hige asked cautiously, glancing over at Kiba, who was removing his hands from Toboe's arms. He winced when he noticed the marks he'd left on Toboe's skin. He didn't know his own strength sometimes.

As if suddenly reminded of what had transpired hours ago, Toboe stiffened, glancing over at Kiba nervously. "Well, I – "

"We don't need to discuss that now." Kiba cut him off, getting to his feet quickly. He'd been prepared to talk, but after what had just happened, Kiba couldn't find it within himself to muster the energy or concentration to deal with it. "Tomorrow, though. I promise."

The young boy stared up at him, palms facing upward as they rested on the top of his own thighs. Slowly, the fingers curled. He looked so helpless. "But, Kiba – "

"No buts." Kiba said firmly, extending a hand to the young Seer. "Hige's exhausted, and so are you. You're practically dead on your feet. Let's just get some sleep and deal with this in the morning."

"Listen to your brother." Hige yawned, throwing his arms behind his head as he fell backward onto the floor, stretching languidly. "He knows what he's talking about."

As Toboe battled with indecision, torn between his resolve to discuss Kiba's current situation or listen to the two older wolves and get some sleep, Kiba's thoughts drifted back to what Toboe had said before.

"_Then it is decided."_

But what exactly had been decided? Toboe obviously didn't recall anything that he'd said, but Kiba did, and he would never forget. Seers were supposed to be the link between the mortals and the gods, so was it possible that the gods were trying to tell him something? But Kiba couldn't make sense of it. He wasn't Selim no matter how hard he tried. He was no interpreter of dreams.

But Kiba didn't have to be his adoptive father to know that something was happening in his world, and there wasn't much time to plan a course of action. But as Kiba had told Toboe: They'd deal with it in the morning.

Toboe finally sighed and glanced up at Kiba, reaching up slowly to take his hand.

Kiba offered him a pathetic smile and pulled the boy to his feet, trying desperately to ignore what he was so acutely aware of.

Toboe was trembling.


End file.
